Fairy Tail: Collision Crusaders
by SSJrandommaster
Summary: The Fairy Tail series has touched the hearts of many...and when the opportunity comes to jump head first into it, a certain quartet begins their crusade...Hardly a town in Fiore hasn't heard the tales of Fairy Tail's rising stars. What makes those four so special? Who the hell do you think they are, they're Team Souzou! Fairy Tail's newest team from our world!
1. Trouble in Olbesk

**Chapter 1: Trouble in Olbesk**

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><p>The city of Olbesk, situated in the land of Fiore. A fairly large city, the buildings made mostly out of marble. The closer a person got to the center, the closer they'd be to the governing body's local headquarters. The governing body; the Magic Council. The headquarters was a fairly large castle, guarded thoroughly by Rune Knights.<p>

It is here our story begins.

* * *

><p>In the city streets, a fair distance from the castle at the center, a young lady was walking around. She had blond hair, brown eyes…and quite the figure. She wore a white tanktop with blue lines throughout and on the edges of the fabric. She also wore a blue skirt which came down to mid-upper thigh, held in place by a brown leather belt. Her hair was held up in a sort of ponytail by a blue ribbon. On one of her hips appeared to be a set of keys; three gold, the rest silver. The other had…what appeared to be a whip looped onto it. Her brown leather boots—which seemed to also function as stockings, considering how high up they reached—clicked on the ground. A frown was on her face, and she glanced down to her left as she began to speak to her travelling companion…which came up to maybe slightly past her ankle in terms of height.<p>

It was a white...snowman, sort of thing, though most people would call it a dog. Even came complete with a golden drill bit for a nose. The drill bit had five lines through it. Not three, not four, not six, but five.

"None of this town's magic shops had anything good," she complained, "Not a single key…"

The creature next to her continued its pace, shaking in place like it was cold. The girl sighed, turning again, looking to her side, seeing the posters on the wall. She walked over, her companion following her.

"These things are everywhere…" Her frown turned from disappointment to anger, as she looked upon them. One of them appeared to be a goth of sorts, another appeared bored, another looked like some kind of sword-wielding geek, and the other…looked…well, flat-out annoyed. "To think these four came from Fairy Tail..."

She bent forward, her eyes stopping on one of the posters, hand over her mouth, "But that reward…for even one of them…"

"'Wanted for destruction of property…Cody of Fairy Tail…Two hundred thousand Jewels—"

Before she could get a better look at the man, a hand slammed into the poster she was looking at, a sharp, masculine grunt accompanying the action. The poster of "Cody" was then ripped violently from the wall, being crumpled up by the tanned hand. Naturally, the young lady went to follow it, and connected it to a rather upset-looking male, who had a vein showing on his temple.

His brown hair was slicked back, though it had some spikes to it. It was held in place by a blue headband. His skin was, well, tanned, and his hazel eyes were primed with frustration. He wore a green shirt with gray long sleeves, and baggy gray pants. He also had sandals on.

"Can't even get it right the first time…" He mumbled to himself, throwing the crumpled up poster over his shoulder.

Lucy wasn't quite sure what to think of that comment, nor his…attitude. The man, who, for the sake of saving time, we'll call "Headband" until he introduces himself properly, seemed to finally notice her there, and his eyes widened a bit.

"Umm…" She had to say something, since he wasn't, "Hello…"

In response, Headband only made a noise, " 'Yeh'…"

"What?" Lucy asked, not understanding what he was saying. Headband blinked, and realized what happened. His eyes narrowed, and he raised his left arm as though confused.

"Um…I meant…"

Now she got it. It wasn't him speaking some weird language…She lifted her finger, "Oh, 'yeh'. 'Hey' backwards…" A phenomenon only known as a "sweatdrop" began to drop down one side of the back of her head as she lowered her finger, "Why…"

"Sorry…" Headband said, "Just kind of surprised…"

"By what?"

She wasn't sure what she said, but Headband seemed taken aback for some reason. Really taken aback.

"Puuuun…" Plue had decided to greet the boy before her, in his own way. His front paws were pressed against Headband's leg, and that drill nose was soon stabbed into the skin. "Pun."

The teen yelped mildly, jumping up, grabbing on to the afflicted leg.

"Sorry!" Lucy immediately grabbed Plue, holding him. The dog spirit shook, as it usually did, letting out yet another "Puuun…"

"You can't do that…" She said to him, puffing out her cheeks to him.

"Pun…" The white creature covered its eyes with its paws, and vanished in a cloud of yellow dust of sorts.

With a sigh, Lucy apologized again, "Sorry about Plue…"

"No problem…"

As blood spurted from the hole in his leg, Lucy could only say one thing:

"You sure?!"

* * *

><p>A few moments later, the two sat down at the nearest bench. Sure enough, Headband wasn't lying. His wound from Plue seemed to have vanished, and his pants also didn't have a hole drilled into them. It didn't seem that out of the ordinary. They had just met, and…well, for someone who seemed ordinary enough, Headband took being stabbed in the leg surprisingly well.<p>

"So, my name's Lucy…" Lucy introduced herself, "That was my Celestial Spirit, Plue."

Headband opened his mouth, but Lucy ignored him.

"Oh, but I'm sure you don't know what a Celestial Spirit is." Her left fist smacked down into her right palm. "Celestial Spirits are these magical beings from another world."

* * *

><p><em>Headband could only listen, keeping his face absolutely blank, as Lucy rambled on. For some reason, the two were now in front of what could have been a sea of stars of sorts, with Plue floating away through them. Headband and Lucy were also...shrunken, and looked sort of like small dolls of themselves.<em>

"_I'm a special kind of mage whose magic can call these spirits with my magic Gate Keys. I've managed to get a pretty good collection too. Plue was my latest spirit that I bought from a magic shop in Hargeon…"_

_Her monologue continued. Headband did not change his facial expression. It would have been very interesting, but for one problem…_

I know…all of this…

* * *

><p>Eventually, Lucy finished talking about her ambitions and self. Everything was back to normal; the two were normal size, and the map of the stars was replaced with the city once more.<p>

"Anyway, I kind of trailed off…so do you live here?" She asked, returning the conversation back to him.

"Oh, no…I'm traveling with some friends at the moment…" Headband responded.

"Friends? Where are they?" Lucy asked.

"I got—" Headband halted, "Er…They got lost."

Lucy stood up, "Well, I'll help you find them."

Headband stood, deciding doing that was a bit more important right now…

"Alright."

* * *

><p>Lucy wasn't quite sure about Headband. He claimed that he was traveling with his friends, but he said they were a bit hard to describe. They had been searching for them for just over a minute when…<p>

"Ah, there's our fine companion!" This was from another male voice, that sounded vaguely…British?

Headband turned, seeming to recognize him, "That didn't take long…"

The man in question was wearing some kind of suit. Also, his hair was blond, and seemed to curl somewhat towards the front. For some reason, he also had a stick or something coming out of his mouth...a sucker, perhaps?

Lucy suddenly felt a presence behind her; a gut feeling. She turned, seeing what looked like a kid in a beanie leaning against the wall just behind her, one foot propped up against the wall. Apparently, he also had bubblegum-evidenced by the pink bubble coming out of his mouth.

"Eh…"

"Yo." Beanie said, the bubble popping, gum snapping back into his mouth. She wasn't sure why, but now she felt intensely uncomfortable. There was some guy in a headband, a guy who...well, looked just a little sleazy in a tuxedo, and a kid in a beanie. Quickly, she made the move to back away, only to bump into yet another person she didn't quite see coming up on her.

This time, it was a monk of sorts; what else could he be with that large, grayish robe covering his body and hiding his face entirely.

"Okay, good, we're all here…" said Headband.

"It appears so…" the blonde observed, "So gents, what shall we do next?"

Lucy heard the impact of feet hitting the ground hard. Little did she know, Beanie was not quite as composed as she thought. Of course, by the time she turned to where she heard the noise, she could see Beanie, back against the wall looking away. She had no idea that Beanie had just been pointing at her, eyes wide as dinner plates. By now, Lucy definitely felt something was amiss. The man with slicked back hair, the kid in the beanie, the monk, the tux…

_I'm surrounded by some kind of weird thugs!_ Lucy thought to herself, backing away. As she did so, the "weird thugs" began to look back to her. _Just...move away slowly...don't make eye contact…_

Headband and company could only watch the girl back away from them. She lifted her hands, continuing to back away, lifting her hands in the air, paying no attention to where she was going.

"Heh-"

Naturally, her not paying attention lead to consequences; she tripped backwards into the waterway behind her.

"Oh dear, it seems that she's suffered quite the spill…"

"You think so…?" Headband asked, turning to Blonde, only to find he'd pretty much already vanished from where he was standing. Monk was facepalming, and Beanie seemed a little...agitated, from Headband's angle. Had Headband been able to see his face, he might have recommended an exorcist-Beanie's eyes were darting all over the place, the pupils taking turns dilating and undilating one at a time.

"Could I offer you some assistance, miss?" Blonde's voice rang through, and Headband looked back, and felt...annoyance. Blonde had taken his good deed for the day by moving to help the girl that had fallen to the ground. Though he couldn't see the expression on Blonde's face, Lucy had just fallen into the water, in a white outfit…Headband quickly waved this off before he thought about that too much.

"I...uh...thank you?" Lucy stated, as she accepted the hand so graciously offered to her. Blonde pulled her out of the water, back onto dry land.

"You okay there…?" Monk whispered to Beanie.

"'S all good…" Beanie reassured.

"It seems we startled you…" Blonde continued, leading her away from the waterway, "I assure you that we're all quite friendly."

Headband continued to watch the two as they passed. Eventually, the man realized he needed to refocus, and as such, tapped his forehead with his fist.

"Yeah, no need to worry about us…" Headband spoke up, nodding.

"Right," Lucy turned to him, looking from him to the others around her, "I guess I just got a little-"

Beanie was getting agitated...or something, given his foot was tapping on the ground, and he was still half-not looking at Lucy. His foot was tapping on the ground very hard; hard enough to make the ground start to crack.

"Uhhhm...uncomfortable…"

"Yeah…" Headband responded with a sweatdrop of his own, "He...does that sometimes."

"Bit of a mental condition, but nothing to fear…" Blonde continued casually, in his British accent.

Beanie twitched, and seemed to finally pull himself together, turning to Lucy.

"Yo, blondie…" Beanie said, "You gon' get out of 'dose soaked up rags?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy flatly questioned. Beanie could only smack his lips in response, before turning to the other "weird thugs" in the area.

"I gots to go to the restroom boys…" Beanie kindly informed everyone, walking away. A silence ensued among the others. The hat-wearing kid slowly slid to the ground as soon as he turned to the corner, sighing to himself.

"Anyway…" Headband said, his upper face slowly falling into shade...despite the fact there was no way that could happen, "I noticed you were looking at those...wanted posters…"

"Oh…" Lucy's expression changed. "Yeah…"

"Nasty people, aren't they?" Headband continued.

"Temper, temper, there…" Blonde said, in a...warning tone?

"That's an understatement…" Lucy said, frowning.

"Ah yes," Blonde continued, "Causing quite the trouble, those blokes…"

"Indeed…" Monk nodded, though his facial expression was indiscernible.

"Property damage…" The headband-wearing teen continued, "I mean...Yeah, there's something someone shouldn't run from…"

"It's not what they're doing…" Lucy corrected, "But it's what their actions are causing that's upsetting me…"

"Oh?" Asked the suit wearing man, removing the stick from his mouth-sure enough, it looked like the end of a sucker. "Then what has you so upset, madam?"

"That they do all these crimes and dare call themselves mages of Fairy Tail…"

* * *

><p>Around the corner, Beanie lowered his head, listening in on the conversation.<p>

"I take it you're a fan?" Headband continued.

"Of course! It's the greatest guild in all of Fiore!"

"Ah yes...quite the…" Blonde paused, "Eccentric...group they are."

"No kidding…" Headband responded.

"I really just can't believe that a guild like Fairy Tail had members that would...do that…an entire town, completely destroyed, just for fun…"

"...For...fun…?" This was Headband, sounding a bit too close to losing his composure. "Hold on a sec…"

"Yes...They are certainly a rotten bunch…"

* * *

><p>"I heard they managed to confiscate one of their weapons during an attempted capture…" Lucy explained what she knew of the outlaws, "They're probably keeping it in the Magic Council's main base here, that big castle in the center of town…"<p>

Now, the girl realized something was off. Beanie hadn't quite returned yet.

"Hey...where'd your friend go?" she asked. Headband, Blonde, and Monk all seemed very concerned-though, again, she couldn't see under Monk's hood.

"Uh...hang on a sec…"

* * *

><p>Headband had been the one to go look. He followed Beanie's footsteps, feeling nervousness swell up in his heart. Sure enough, when he turned the corner, his friend was nowhere in sight. In his place was a massive crater in the wall.<p>

"Oh...dammit…"

* * *

><p>Beanie had taken off running through the city streets, heading for the town's center, eyes shaded, teeth grit.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey guys…" Headband slid out from around the corner. Lucy couldn't help but notice he looked...off. Nervous, maybe? "Uh… I guess we should get moving…I-I'm...pretty worried about those criminals and all…"<p>

"Hmm…?" asked Monk. Headband could only give an awkward smile.

"I would have to agree," said Blonde, "Who knows when they'll make an appearance?"

* * *

><p>The beanie-wearing kid continued to run towards the center of town. All the while, he could only think about the information he'd just heard from Lucy, about the attempted capture and the confiscation.<p>

_If word got out to where the sword was taken...No doubt that…_

An explosion rang out in the distance. Smoke rose from where the castle was, and Beanie skidded to a halt, teeth still grit tightly.

_That's exactly where they'll head..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Lucy, Headband, and Beanie-**

Lucy:"Hey! Everyones favorite Lucy here! Boy that first chapter was exciting."

Headband:"Indeed…"

_The boy had dark brown hair-almost black, greenish-blue eyes, a dark purple vest over a white short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. His teeth were insanely crooked; almost making you wonder if he could eat through them,_

Beanie:"Heck yah…"

Lucy:"Sorry about Plue…"

_Beanie began to weave about, avoiding the attacks, tanking one with crossed arms after a while. Behind him, Cody moved into position._

Headband:"It's alright, I should be fine…"

*Beanie closes in on the camera, eyes wide*

Beanie:"If Lucy has Plue here then that means we're after Hargeon where she got him! Whatever happened to Natsu and Happy? Did Lucy beat up those jerks that tried to kidnap her by herself?"

_Suddenly, the knight turned, hearing two screams just outside his door. A moment later, that was sliced in two, Ian walking through the open door easily._

Lucy:"Hey, what are you doing over there?"

Beanie:"YO!"

_***~*The End*~***_

* * *

><p>There wasn't a lot to edit. Just stepping up the prose a bit, really.<p> 


	2. The Culprits!

**Chapter 2: The Culprits…!**

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><p>At the center of Olbesk, the Magic Council's headquarters stood tall and imposing, a castle of marble. In the courtyard, numerous knights and staff-wielding mages, the Rune Knights, were gathered around a smoking crater. Four figures began to step forth from the smoke, one quickly making himself known.<p>

"Heh, is that the best you Magic Council dweebs can do?" asked one, obviously the leader, adjusting his rounded glasses, cackling through his bucked teeth.

**~*"Fairy Tail Miscreant": Ian*~**

"If it is," A second man walked out, skin so pale he could pass for albino, and clothes so stereotypically goth that even gothic people would be offended to be associated with him, "You're better off just lying down and accepting death."

**~*"Fairy Tail Miscreant": James*~**

"I've got the numbers all figured out…" The boy had dark brown hair-almost black, greenish-blue eyes, a dark purple vest over a white short-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. His teeth were insanely crooked; almost making you wonder if he could eat through them, "You lose."

**~*"Fairy Tail Miscreant": Cody*~**

"Don't see why we need such noise or flair for that matter…" The last of the four stepped forward, with insanely short red hair-almost like a buzzcut. His clothes were boring-dark gray.

**~*"Fairy Tail Miscreant": Larry*~**

Two knights rushed the group. Ian smirked, grabbing at the swords on his back, stepping forward to meet the knights' charge. The swords were pulled forth from the sheath, slashing upwards, slicing the knights as soon as they came close. The poor knights fell to the ground, defeated by the attack.

"Sooooo _**LAME!**_" Ian shouted.

"Divide…" Cody swiped the middle three fingers on his left hand, creating large, dark green slash marks...which sort of looked like a dividing symbol...soared through the air, blowing up a handful more of the Rune Knights as they moved in to provide their comrades with backup. "To conquer…"

Four of the royal mages lowered their staffs, firing orange flames out from them. The gothic miscreant inhaled, quickly exhaling a cloud of black smoke, creating a dense wall that blocked the flames.

"Huh...hope this doesn't take too long," Larry observed in an emotionally dead tone, a small Magic Seal appearing in front of him, as it changed into a small portal of sorts. He jammed his arm into the portal, his arm appearing next to a mage and punching into him.

"I'm just gonna cut through these lame wads and get right to that sword!" Ian declared, bringing his swords to one side. His glasses glared as the light hit them, a sinister grin on his face.

Out of nowhere, a foot caved his face in, breaking one of the lenses to his glasses. Ian was lifted off his feet, being sent several yards back.

His attacker-Beanie, of all people, landed on the ground, striking a cool pose.

"Yo…" Beanie quipped, looking over the person he just attacked.

"The hyack mayn…!" Ian cried out, his voice distorted from his askew nose.

Beanie took a nice, long look at Ian. Meanwhile, the miscreant in question rose to his feet, fixing his nose. Beanie's eye twitched, annoyance breaking through his composure.

"Who're you…" The beanie-wearing kid asked, a flat tone in his voice.

"What kinda idiot are you?" The dual-blade-wielding teen asked, "I'm Ian from Fairy Tail!"

"Oh…" Beanie responded, scratching at the inside of his ear, seeming mostly disinterested in the announcement.

"Yeah, so why don't yah-" Ian tried to tell Beanie to scram, but Beanie wasn't having it, closing the distance surprisingly fast for a civilian. The next thing Ian knew, Beanie was slamming his fist into his nerdy-looking face, sending him flying back again.

"Sorry, I don't think you heard me..." Beanie's street accent was all but gone now, replaced with, for lack of a better term, a normal-sounding accent. His eyes were wide-however his hat hid his arched eyebrows. "Who. Are. You?"

"Ah, dang! We got someone who's gettin' in our way!" Cody observed, sounding completely uneducated.

"We'll just have to crush him into the dirt like all the others," James stated, clenching his fists and cracking his knuckles.

Larry sighed, annoyed with the whole ordeal, his voice having all the flavor of dry tissue paper, "Well crap. This all makes things more interesting...and I hate interesting…"

Ian got to his feet, angered, his voice sounding like a cheese grater on your ear, "I'll slice this lame dweeb to pieces!"

"Go on…" Beanie stood straight up, his voice all calmness, "Try it…"

James was the first to act, expelling a puff of black smoke from his mouth. It turned into the shape of a fist, flying at Beanie; Beanie sidestepped easily, rushing forward. Ian lunged in turn, swinging his sword. Beanie cocked his fist back, ready for another punch-

Something caught his leg, knocking him off balance. Despite this, Beanie dodged the sword, cleanly, turning his head back. He saw a hand that had closed around his ankle. The hand in question slipped back through the portal.

Beanie's head circled back around, spotting Ian thrusting both of his blades down, trying to stab him, but Beanie rolled easily to the side, avoiding that attack.

James decided to kick things up a notch, moving to Beanie's side and breathing a horde of smoke missiles at Beanie.

Beanie began to weave about, avoiding the attacks, tanking one with crossed arms after a while. Behind him, Cody moved into position.

"Multiply…" he droned, moving his arms, throwing dark green asterisks, X's, and other assorted multiplication symbols at Beanie. Beanie moved to dodge, but he quickly realized other people were directly behind him.

And he couldn't let them get hurt…

Beanie quickly stepped back, bringing his hand forward in an attempt to block. The multiplication attacks impacted, followed closely by more missiles, which caused enough of an explosion to displace the marble beneath his feet and kick up a shitload of smoke.

"He took their attack!" One of the knights observed, clearly concerned.

"Is he okay!?" One of the mages questioned, equally concerned.

After a few moments, the smoke cleared. Beanie was lying facedown, his clothes singed from the attack. The top of his hat-his beanie, was slightly singed off as well.

"And stay down!" Cody yelled, soon as he saw the sight, doing a fistpump of sorts.

"That ought to put you in your place, loser!" Ian taunted, flexing whilst holding on to his dual blades...however that worked.

"A bit too...exciting…" Larry sighed, sounding only vaguely annoyed.

"An untimely death, but it would have happened eventually…" James eulogized, sounding as somber as any other unrepentant psychopath out there. Which wasn't a whole lot.

"So what you say we get back to where we left off, Ian?" Cody asked, looking over to his teammate, a glowing plus sign beginning to hover over his hand, a grin making his very crooked teeth all the more visible.

"I don't want to bother with these lame soldiers anymore…" Ian responded, turning towards the castle with arrogant determination in his eyes, "Let's get in that castle and get what's mine!"

The team of four began to head towards the castle. The Rune Knights were frozen in place, utterly stunned at the display of power from the criminals.

"We can't do anything…" A different knight stated, sweating. Yet, despite his crushing hopelessness, he remained erect.

"Against them…" A different mage stated, raising his staff and also standing up completely straight. "They're...mages of such a powerful guild…"

The kid in the beanie remained utterly motionless on the ground, also unable to stop the miscreants continued to go into the castle unopposed.

Who could stop these wayward mages?

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*"And then…"*~*<strong>_

* * *

><p>Close by, a certain group of people were running towards the commotion-Lucy, Headband, Monk, and Blonde, three of them sporting looks of concern while Monk continued to have his face obscured by his hood.<p>

"All the commotion was definitely coming from the castle!" Lucy called out.

Headband hung his head, his upper face seemingly hidden by shadows, his voice filled with concern for Beanie; he knew exactly where he was going, "Just hope he isn't there caught in it!"

As they drew closer, they could see the knights and mages of the Magic Council in turmoil. They clearly didn't know what to do about the crisis at hand. There was a smoking crater in front of the castle.

Yet, despite the looks of things, the monk didn't seem so convinced that things were so bad.

"The young chap can fend for himself, he shall be fine…" Despite the light tone to his voice, the tux-wearing "bloke" had a lot of seriousness on his face.

After a few more moments, the group eventually reached the Rune Knights' situation, with Lucy being the one to break the ice.

"What happened here?" Lucy asked of one of the knights.

"What?" asked one of the knights as he turned to her, taking a warning tone as he looked her over, "Civilians shouldn't get too close…"

"I'm a mage, I can help!" The confidence Lucy had at first quickly vanished as doubt clouded her mind. These were Fairy Tail mages causing the mess, after all! "I-I think…"

"A mage?" The knight questioned, before deciding to explain the situation, "Well, those _swines_ from Fairy Tail were here...and…well, they took down some super tough gangster, one in a beanie…"

"That's-!" Lucy started. Headband, Monk, and Blonde didn't seem too concerned with this news, but why…? They were friends, weren't they?

"Did you know him? He's…" The knight motioned to a crater...that was empty. When he turned, so did everyone else. The crowd of mages stared in confusion.

"Where did the body go!?" A mage called out in confusion, completely stunned at the lack of Beanie's corpse.

"Did anyone even check his pulse?" A second knight questioned the crowd, being the voice of reason, "Anyone at all?"

A silence followed, a silence so awkward it was deemed illegal by the Magic Council to have a silence that awkward ever again.

"I didn't want to touch it…" The second knight confessed, his voice growing slightly high-pitched as he recalled the parting words James left for Beanie, "I just went with what the goth one said…"

"The ones responsible for this," Blonde gestured to the carnage around him, "They are…?"

"What?" The first knight turned to the man in question, raising a brow, "Why are you talking like that...but yeah…"

"They went into the castle," said the mage who questioned where Beanie's body went, pointing towards them, "But don't even think about getting near there. We're waiting on reinforcements…"

Monk didn't seem to care about their concerns; hell, while the Rune Knights were busy with everyone else, he was already making his way to the castle doors.

"Oh that's quite alright…" Blonde said, walking over to the castle, following Monk's lead, "That will not be needed…"

"What he said," announced Headband, his voice sounding confident, following Blonde's lead. Lucy was entirely unsure of them, but followed them anyway.

"Eh?!"

_**Entirely**_ unsure of their sanity, that is.

* * *

><p>Within the castle walls, in an office, a mature-looking knight stood over a table. He looked over a sword, very large in size, probably about half the height of the average person and about as thick as the torso of the average male. Its triangular rain guard was embellished with an intricate design. It was a silver sword, with the logo of Fairy Tail blazoned on one side in a slightly darker color.<p>

"To think…" The knight observed, "It took ten of our soldiers half a day to carry this here…"

Looking over the sword more, his eye twitched, "And yet, the table supports it perfectly…blasted magic…"

Suddenly, the knight turned, hearing two screams just outside his door. A moment later, even that barrier was sliced in two, Ian walking through the open door easily.

"Ah, finally made it to the only decent thing in this crap town…" Ian stated, walking into the room, twin swords at the ready, an arrogant look on his face, "My prize…"

The knight drew his blade and rushed Ian, shouting, "I won't allow you to get your hands on this sword again!"

As the knight got within range, Ian sidestepped casually, spinning with both of his blades out. The knight stood no chance, cut down with that one maneuver. Ian sheathed his swords immediately afterward, adjusting his glasses with his middle finger, potentially, subtly telling the knight to do things to himself that I cannot repeat here. This done, he turned to the table, and walked towards it.

"Finally, the real deal is finally mine!" he yelled, confident in his victory as he reached out for the sword.

His hand around the hilt of the sword, and attempted to lift it. But no matter how much elbow grease he applied, the blade would not budge.

"The hell kind of crap is this!?" Ian shouted, in confusion, the arrogant anger on his face replaced with a different kind of arrogance; the kind that would tell an enchanted sword to please ignore whatever it was that was keeping him from wielding it to knock it off.

"Did you really think…" said a voice Ian recognized from earlier.

Ian turned, seeing Beanie kneeling at the window sill. His clothes were burnt, and a second layer of clothing underneath was revealed slightly.

"That the Ten Commandments would find you worthy enough to wield it?!"

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the castle, a certain gothic bastard was choking chefs with smoke in the kitchen. Why? Because he felt like being an asshole today. More of one than usual. He had a sneer on his face as he used his magic to do evil stuff.<p>

"How's it feel to be the ones cooked in smoke?!" James called out, continuing his torture of the chefs, clenching his fists and his jaw.

"That doesn't even -cough- make sense!" A chef choked out, his eyes stinging from the smoke.

"Doesn't have to, just die!" James screamed, continuing to throttle the chefs one after another. Soon, they would all be choked out. Just then, a door exploded nearby. James turned his head, loosening the smoke grip he had on the chefs.

"Huh?" He questioned, seeing the tux-wearing blonde at what was once a doorway.

"Excuse me, sir," Blonde asked, his voice completely calm, "May I have a word with you?"

Despite the warm smile on his face, one could easily tell he was very pissed off. Why, his accent appeared to have dropped between the words "Sir" and "May" in his sentence.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the castle, where the Magic Council in Olbesk did their accounting…<p>

"All..._**WRONG!**_"

One of the accountants fell back scared; Cody's fury was on full display. He was scribbling furiously at the parchments...checking the Magic Council's math?

"You did this all wrong!" he screamed, face red in blind fury, "You're supposed to carry the one, you idiots! This is an abomination!"

Cody swung his hands about, math signs flying everywhere, exploding on impact, causing damage to the castle around him as he continued to rant psychopathically on the virtues of being able to do math.

"A disgrace! An absolute crapfest of work! Do you ever have the brain functions to double-check your stuff?! Good God, no wonder we're-"

A hand poked Cody in the shoulder, interrupting his little bitch fit. He turned, annoyed.

Headband met his eyes, his face twisted into one of the most hilarious expressions of anger one could expect to find on a human being. Before Cody could react, he was sucker-punched, sending him flying backwards, flat on his back.

Headband turned to the desk, blinking, taking in the work Cody had started and the Magic Council's work that had already been there.

"Wow, this is wrong…" Headband observed, completely calm, though his eyebrow was twitching. With that said, Headband proceeded to finish Cody's work, all calmness, "Carry the two, add fifty percent...deduct this, calculate that, and...Kay."

Now that he was done with that diversion, Headband carried on with being angry, resuming staring down Cody with a glare on his face.

"Now…" Headband began to walk slowly to a stunned Cody, who seemed shocked that a short-looking teen with an unfitting hairstyle could do that to him…

* * *

><p>In yet another spot in the castle, women were running out of a bath room, squealing in fear and disgust. Why? Larry was standing just outside the door, hands in the portal. Inside the bathroom, one of the tubs had his hands coming out of the portal in the bathtub.<p>

Larry sighed, displeased with the results of his actions, "Nothing...special…"

Just then, Monk appeared, walking casually to where Larry was standing, completely expressionless. Not that he had one with the beige cloak covering most of his body.

"Oh, look at that…" Larry said, sounding only vaguely surprised, "Aren't you quite boring…?"

Monk said nothing as Larry continued to look him over, neither side looking particularly...anything, with what they were seeing out of the other. Finally, Larry spoke again.

"Nice…" Larry flatly said, sounding no more excited than he usually got about things.

* * *

><p>Within the halls of the castle, Lucy ran about. She really wished she had actually followed them inside instead of questioning them at first. Now, she only had one question on her mind, one she'd been asking herself since entering the castle.<p>

"Where...did everyone go…?"

She slid to a halt, unknowing that the four "weird thugs" were facing off against the four miscreants, in their respective locations.

Lucy frowned, not knowing where to go. She had four people to keep track of, and she wasn't sure who she'd find first, or what exactly she could do about this crisis on her own. Eventually, she took off running through one of the halls, confused and concerned.

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Blonde and Monk-**

_Back in the office, Beanie and Ian were continuing their battle, the former dodging the latter's sword strikes._

Blonde:"It would appear we are finally entering a scuffle? Quite exciting isn't it old chap?"

Monk:"..."

_The clothes Headband was wearing seemed to change before her very eyes: his pants changed to a pair of blue jeans, his sandals changed to red running shoes. His shirt changed to an orange, sleeveless one, and as Headband swiped his arm back, Lucy saw it._

Blonde:"I feel like i'd heard of that 'Ten Commandments' before. What say you?"

Monk:"..."

Blonde:"Well...this conversation is rather dull…perhaps more intelligence shall be gathered next chapter."

_However, before he could get there, a glint entered his vision, and he lifted his swords to block a sword swing from Ivan-however, this did nothing for him, and Ian was still sent sliding back._

Monk:"..."

Blonde:"Tata fair readers!"

_***~*The End*~***_


	3. Team Souzou

**Chapter 3: Team Souzou**

* * *

><p>Lucy continued to run through the castle halls, completely unsure of what she was doing here. She still hadn't seen any sign of the four strangers she'd run into today, but she could hear the sounds of violence beginning to erupt within the castle. The walls were shaking around her, and at least once she almost got knocked off her feet from the trembling.<p>

"I can't believe they just ran in like that," Lucy said to herself, still in disbelief of what she'd seen out of the four "weird thugs" she ran into, "They have no idea who they're dealing with…Fairy Tail mages aren't known to be-!"

Just then, the wall exploded a ways up from her, smoke spilling out into the hallway from the blast. She drew closer, seeing one of the miscreants-Cody, specifically-sliding out into the hallway on his back.

"Eh!?" Was the only response Lucy could manage in the face of this. She turned towards the smoking orifice the wall now had, to see that Headband was casually walking out of the hole in the wall, cracking his knuckles menacingly…

* * *

><p>Back in the office, Beanie and Ian were continuing their battle, the former dodging the latter's sword strikes. The geeky criminal could only growl in frustration as the beanie-wearing kid could hardly stay still...you know, like you probably would if some crazy bastard was trying to chop you into hamburger.<p>

"God, you're such a lame fighter," Ian called out, clearly getting annoyed with Beanie's constant need to avoid his attacks, "Stop. Dodging!"

"Are you _really_ a swordsman?" Beanie questioned flatly, pulling off a roundhouse kick, sending Ian back for the third time that day, "Jeez…"

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the castle, Larry was running down the hall, slumped backwards with his arms trailing behind him, a completely bored expression on his face. Monk was following him, at an unusually quick pace for a person wearing a cloak.<p>

"Maybe you should stop…" Monk admonished flatly. Surprisingly, Larry took his advice, and slowed to a stop, skidding to a halt and mostly correcting his otherwise horrid posture.

"Hey now, don't get like that on me…" Larry said, with as much emotion as a washing machine.

"Like what, exactly…" The cloaked person questioned, deadpan.

"I said it before...and I hate having to repeat myself…" The redhead said, still completely emotionally dead, "I...hate...**interesting**…"

With that, Larry threw his hand back, into a portal that opened up. Monk stood there, obviously confused.

"How was I-" Monk cut himself off, as Larry's punch came in, very close to his head. Monk leaned backwards, the punch just missing his head, clipping his hood.

"At point blank…" Larry dryly commented, still sounding...you guessed it.

* * *

><p>Back in the kitchen, the chefs were being allowed to go free. James' full attention was now on the tuxedo-wearing Blonde, who was still very chipper for someone so pissed off. Two walls had already been destroyed in the kitchen, the floor now sporting several cracks running along it. James was sweating, not expecting someone so powerful to go up against him today.<p>

"And now that I have your attention…" Surprisingly, Blonde's British accent had completely dropped, replaced with a more...normal-sounding one. The man cracked his knuckles, sneering, "I'm going to kick your ass!"

The knight couldn't believe what he was seeing. Here was a common gangster, and he was outdoing every member of the Rune Knights' collective effort to bring Ian in. Ian-a member of Fairy Tail-was not able to land a single slice on this kid so far, and it was clear Ian was trying and Beanie was not.

"Just...who is this…?" He asked himself, watching as Beanie kneed Ian away casually, much to Ian's displeasure, "He's no ordinary person…"

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>You<strong>_ did this?!" Lucy shrieked, utterly in disbelief. On one end of a hole in the wall, was a heinous criminal who just so happened to be a member of Fairy Tail, and on the other, a civilian who looked pretty ordinary.

"To a member of Fairy Tail…"

Cody stood up, "This...doesn't add up…I'm Cody, of Fairy T-"

"You?!" Headband snapped, a vein suddenly very visible on his forehead, his right hand reaching up for his bandanna and throwing it away. "Don't make me laugh! You're no member of Fairy Tail…"

Lucy blinked as she saw Headband seem to change before her very eyes. A wireframe, or something, green in color, appeared over the entirety of Headband's body, or rather, his clothes. His hair had apparently been held in that place by the headband-it fell over his forehead, assuming a slightly spiked...bedhead style of sorts.

The clothes Headband was wearing seemed to change before her very eyes: his pants changed to a pair of blue jeans, his sandals changed to red running shoes. His shirt changed to an orange, sleeveless one, and as Headband swiped his right arm back, Lucy saw it.

A green stamp on the inside of his forearm...but it wasn't any old stamp. It was an odd shape; at first glance, it would look like a seven on fire. However, on closer inspection, it vaguely looked like some sort of humanoid with wings and a tail that formed the "7" shape. Lucy's eyes went wide once she realized what it was she was looking at.

_That's...the Fairy Tail guild mark!_

"Believe me, I've never seen you around…and...and…" said the Fairy Tail mage, still clearly angered. However, what he did next left Lucy speechless. It also apparently left Cody speechless. The Fairy Tail mage began to stomp his feet on the ground furiously, looking a little bit like an overgrown child as he screamed.

"_**There is no 'D' in 'Corey'!**_"

**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: The Lexicon-Corey Armstrong~*~**

* * *

><p>"Unggghhh!" Larry was finally showing some emotion-mild annoyance. "Why can't you just let me hit you...it would save some flashy attacks if you'd just let me..."<p>

The redhead threw his leg through yet another portal. Monk dodged-or at least, the person in his cloak did. The cloak now hung off Larry's leg. Seeing that, Larry became exceptionally annoyed. Well, compared to his average emotionally dead self, anyway.

A teen suddenly popped up behind him, slightly spiked hair of silver, eyes of red, and very tanned skin. He casually adjusted his messed-up hair. Underneath the cloak, he wore a blue-gray longcoat with a dark purple shirt underneath. His belt and pants were the same dark red color. His shoes were the same color as his longcoat. On his right hand was a gauntlet; black, but plated with gold and silver.

Larry was now surprised, and quickly moved to punch the now cloakless Monk, but quickly found his punch blocked by the gauntlet hand of his opponent.

"Well…?" Monk asked, still deadpan, "I let you hit me…"

Larry could barely show any emotion to this. He didn't have any words for him.

"Alright then…" Monk then proceeded to pull Larry in, kneeing him in the gut and letting him fall down in pain, holding his stomach and coughing. Monk took a couple of steps back, allowing the redhead to recover.

"W...what…?" Larry was obviously more inconvenienced than his expression let on; his voice proved it, "Who're you…?!"

"Oh, no one special...I'm just Leo," said the mage, introducing himself, "Fairy Tail's All Fist!"

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: The All Fist-Leo Sacrier~*~**_

* * *

><p>The floor exploded in the kitchen as Blonde and James continued their epic struggle, sending them to the next floor down.<p>

"Impressive," commented the goth, "But you shall die, just like all the others…" He followed this up with exhaling more smoke fists.

Blonde reacted by-rather impressively for a civilian-jumping off the debris to dodge the attacks. However, he couldn't avoid all the smoke fists, eventually taking one in the chest. James landed on his feet, but Blonde hit the ground back first and didn't get up.

James looked down to the tux-wearing man, sneering, "All that and it only took one hit…such a shame…"

However, at that moment, James almost jumped out of his skin. Why? Because Blonde actually got back on his feet and James saw it.

"A zombie!?" shouted James, suddenly sounding very fearful.

"I landed on my back...How did you think I was done?" Blonde asked, cracking his neck, swiftly followed by his knuckles as he continued speaking, "Now, let's try that again, shall we?"

James didn't answer, breathing more smoke missiles at the suit-wearing man, who began to walk forward, casually dodging some of them. One seemed like it was perfectly on-target, but, abruptly, Blonde faded away, leaving behind...a blonde wig?!

"W-what?" James asked, confused that the blonde he had been fighting wasn't natural.

"Is this all you can do?" asked Not-Blonde's voice, causing James to turn, seeing his now not-blonde opponent facing him.

"Don't get so cocky!" James took a step back, shouting slightly more in fear than in confidence, "You'll fall, just like everyone else who dares face Fairy-"

Just then, James' faced was caved in, courtesy of Not-Blonde's fist. "Don't you _dare_ say that name!"

James hit the wall, going through it easily enough. As he recovered, he watched as Not-Blonde stood up, and gave the upper part of his tux a hard tug, tearing it away. On his now-visible left arm, was a black guild stamp-the mark of Fairy Tail. Underneath the suit: a black shortsleeve shirt with a green section through the middle of it.

"You're not worthy," said the Fairy Tail mage, giving James a most unpleasant death glare.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: The Khalkharoth-John~*~**_

* * *

><p>Had Ian landed a single slice since we last left him and Beanie? No, Beanie was still dodging sword slashes left and right from Ian, who was growing even more and more agitated by the second.<p>

"I'll cut you into little lame pieces!" Ian screamed, reaching his limit, "So! Stop! Dodging!"

Suddenly, his hands were halted mid-slice: Beanie had successfully caught him by the wrists; this also stopped Ian from attacking him further, no matter how much he moved his arms.

"Jeez...that took longer than I imagined…" said Beanie, sounding slightly irritated with this.

Beanie's clothes-except Beanie's beanie-fell away, sliced apart cleanly, with no injuries to Beanie himself. His stereotypical gangster clothes fell away, revealing a red short-sleeve jacket underneath. Underneath that was a white shirt with a purple design on it. His pants were still a navy blue color, and his shoes were gray.

"What do you think, knight guy…" Beanie said, turned away from the knight in question. The man could only blink. Had Beanie allowed Ian's attacks to land on his clothing...to look "cool" !?

With his real outfit revealed, Beanie decided to spin around, throwing Ian into the nearest wall. At this, the matured knight came to a conclusion.

"Wait...his strength…" the knight said, looking towards Beanie.

"Oh wait…" Beanie said, turning to face him, "I recognize you…"

"You're…" The knight said, lifting his head and upper body up to look closely at Beanie.

"You were part of that brigade that attacked me...or, at least one of the four…" He rubbed the back of his head, seemingly laughing it off without laughing at all, "For the record, I had just finished a job...don't get too proud you disarmed me…"

"Hold on…" Ian grunted, moving away from the wall, his arrogance completely broken as he realized who it was he was looking at.

"The member of Fairy Tail…" The knight continued, voicing Ian's thoughts and then some, "Who took four brigades to stop…the true wielder of the Ten Commandments…"

Beanie cast aside...the beanie, revealing a head of brown hair, as he walked towards the table.

"The real deal...not good…" Ian groaned in summary.

"Beanie" proceeded to rough up the front of his hair, pulling out a pair of glasses, still turned away from the others. He put his hand to the hilt of the large sword on the table, lifting it as though it weighed little more than a bowling ball.

"Fairy Tail's Sword Saint of the Shifting Blade…Ivan Joestar!"

The "Sword Saint" turned, a lens on his glasses glinted, facing down Ian, who looked genuinely uncomfortable rather than arrogant.

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~Fairy Tail Mage: The Sword Saint-Ivan Joestar~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>"I can't…" Ian strained, in fear for his life, "This isn't…"<p>

Quickly, Ian turned tail, making for the door. However, before he could get there, a glint entered his vision, and he lifted his swords to block a sword swing from Ivan-however, this did nothing for him, and Ian was still sent sliding back from the force of his strikes.

"So…" Ivan started, "Since I think it's clear you blamed the wrong people…"

The knight was star-struck to see the Sword Saint on his knees, bowing repeatedly.

"Please, don't charge us for damages!" Ivan shouted.

* * *

><p>"How about I add to your pain!?" Cody shouted, tossing dark green addition signs. Corey, meanwhile, began to move about, seemingly casually, dodging the exploding math signs. All the while, he seemed to be thinking.<p>

"How about I...I…" Was he really thinking of a snappy retort in the middle of battle? "I teach you an algorithm for running home, crying to mommy!"

Corey rushed past Cody, a wireframe in the shape of a hammer appearing-it took its true form soon enough, and the former grabbed it, "I have a method right here…"

Corey swung his hammer at Cody, who lifted his hand with grit teeth. A green subtraction sign appeared in front of him, spinning as it shielded him from the impact-but it shattered.

Corey paused, closing his eyes, clenching his fist, "Script Space…"

Lucy watched, confused as to what he was doing, as a large, light green Magic Seal erupted beneath Corey's feet, and extended outward several yards, before it took the form of...a bubble?

"On…"

Lucy would have asked exactly what Corey was doing, but she noticed that debris was floating around-several large chunks of what used to be a wall, in fact.

"Better watch out…" Corey quipped, "You're in my Zone now…"

Corey paused, seeing what looked like a window of sorts, filled with text. It seemed to be hovering over Cody. He raised his finger to it, and swiped his hand, and the window grew.

"Oh, I'm seriously insulted now," Corey groaned, putting one hand to his face as he continued to manipulate the debris, "You're barely even half my strength!"

"Take that back!" Cody shouted, his hand glowing red as another math symbol appeared over it.

"My Zone doesn't lie, faker…" said Corey, throwing forth his free hand and sending the large chunks of debris at Cody.

The debris soared past her, past Corey, and at Cody, who countered the debris with a multiplication sign, causing an explosion to once again erupt...

* * *

><p>Multiple portals appeared within the room, Larry punching into them, clearly more agitated than normal...for him. Leo didn't seem too phased by the display of magic, casually dodging each punch, moving in closer to Larry.<p>

"Why…" Larry began dryly, but Leo suddenly warped in front of him, throwing a kick out. Larry stumbled to the side, his arm getting caught in his own portal and preventing him from moving further away. Thankfully, Leo was a handyman-he grabbed Larry by the arm, pulling him out and slamming him into the nearest wall, and throwing him into the around.

Leo's gauntlet hand curled into a fist as he began to punch at Larry again. Larry opened a portal to defend himself, causing Leo's fist to go into it and pop out next to his own head. However, Leo halted, preventing him from punching himself, retracting his arm and dodging a kick attack from Larry.

The two went on, Larry throwing more close-range attacks, Leo casually parrying each strike. Eventually, Leo once more caught Larry's punch, this time with his bare hand.

"Take this!" Leo shouted, punching forward with his other hand.

Gauntlet fist, meet Larry's face. Larry, meet the other side of the wall behind you.

* * *

><p>James could hardly believe the power he was up against now, currently removing himself from underneath some rubble, coughing up smoke unintentionally as he did so.<p>

John walked through the hole, more or less stretching his arm, "Looks like I held back too much on that punch…"

James continued to cough, getting back to his feet, trying to sound cocky, "Y-you better believe it…"

The Fairy Tail mage began to advance on the goth, sounding just as casual as ever, "Oh well, this'll be over soon…"

"I couldn't agree more!" James took a deep breath, an insane look on his face. John remained absolutely stationary. James expelled a large cloud of black smoke, surrounding John entirely.

"Smoke Coffin!" James growled, extending a hand outwards as the smoke continued to do its thing. The smoke began to compress around John, James yelling out what he wanted John to do in there as he clenched his fist, "Suffocate!"

The smoke coffin continued to cave in, James eventually grinning through heavy breaths as the smoke coffin seemingly exploded outwards, his smoke coffin having completed its move.

"See? Like I said… just like all the others." James sneered, still panting.

Believing he'd won, James turned, walking away. He had left yet another dead body in his wake, even though now he was sure his count was off by a few. And now, he was going to keep right on going with his associates by his-

"And they mistook you for me?" said a very familiar voice, one that James had grown sick of hearing by this point.

James' eyes widened, and he turned to the coffin. A black Magic Seal began to open up under it. The coffin suddenly began to expand, exploding, sending black smoke in all directions.

"I'm a little insulted…" John said, now cloaked in a black aura. Shadows seemed to crawl toward him, shifting towards his hand, beginning to morph into the shape of a sword…

* * *

><p>Ian was absolutely terrified, and Ivan could see it. Ian was using both of his blades, blocking Ivan's casual, one-handed sword strikes with them.<p>

"You can't even handle the Ten Commandments first form...Eisenmeteor…" Ivan calmly mocked, continuing his one-sided assault.

"Look man, you got your sword back!" Ian blocked a strike, "Isn't that-" Another strike, parried, "Enough!?"

Ivan's eye twitched, betraying his previously composed look. In a flash, Ian found himself disarmed, both blades now safely behind him. He stared back at Ivan, vaguely sure he was glad he went to the bathroom before he came to this castle.

"Enough? Do you understand what you've done?" Ivan demanded, now clearly angry.

* * *

><p>Lucy watched, utterly amazed at the display of power she was seeing. Another light green Magic Seal appeared under Corey's feet, and the bubble expanded in size.<p>

"You actually had someone believing that someone from Fairy Tail would do something like that…" His tone was angry, not that it hadn't been the whole time. But the anger was more tranquil, far less evident than it had been when Corey had made his introduction.

Lucy had heard of the Fairy Tail members' passion before, but seeing it firsthand was an entirely different experience…

* * *

><p>James was in a pinch, and he knew it. James fired more smoke missiles at John. With his shadow blade, John cut them down easily, the missiles turning into regular smoke.<p>

"You struck down innocent people…" John snarled, preparing for another strike.

* * *

><p>Leo whipped a cartridge out of a pocket on his longcoat, rushing Larry as he placed it in his gauntlet.<p>

"In the name of Fairy Tail…" Leo sounded genuinely mad as well.

* * *

><p>"Our guild is our pride," Ivan continued, Eisenmeteor bursting into light.<p>

* * *

><p>"Our home…" Corey stated, green, transparent squares forming and shrinking over his right fist, having transferred his hammer to his left hand.<p>

* * *

><p>John lifted his shadow blade, the room seeming to get darker.<p>

"Our family…" John growled.

* * *

><p>"Our soul…" Leo snarled.<p>

Leo's gauntlet shifted, changing form slightly, erupting into purple flames.

* * *

><p>"So don't you ever!" Ivan shouted.<p>

Ivan's blade had shifted form-it was not the same large silver sword, but rather slightly narrower, orange in color, and the hilt had changed slightly as well. He lunged, eyes wide.

"Step-"

* * *

><p>Corey rushed Cody completely, fist raised, his fist cloaked in green light.<p>

"On the-"

* * *

><p>John rushed James, the darkness moving with him.<p>

"The name-"

* * *

><p>From Leo's gauntlet, purple flames surged up, and he brought his hand forward.<p>

"Name of-"

* * *

><p>At the same time, in four different locations, the four teammates cried out:<p>

"FAIRY TAIL!"

Ivan spun, hitting Ian with his sword multiple times. The sword didn't cut into him, however, but rather, sent him flying backward in a tornado of explosions, through the wall behind him, and the wall after that.

Corey's fist slammed into Cody's stomach. For a second, nothing happened as Cody's face pulled into a hilarious expression of pain. Suddenly, Cody was sent flying backwards, off of Corey's fist, through several walls.

John slashed the sword of shadows, creating shadow projectiles which hit James directly, sending him through the walls that were behind him.

Leo shot a beam of purple flames from his gauntlet, speeding at Larry, who did not dodge in time. Larry hit the wall again, and went through it as the flames engulfed him.

In a surprising coincidence, all four of the impostors were knocked into the same large room, colliding with each other hard enough to cause a small impact crater in the floor of that room.

* * *

><p>Lucy watched, absolutely awestruck at the property damage she witnessed, but not because of the fact it was the Magic Council's castle that had just gotten ripped apart. Corey walked through the hole in the wall, his back to her.<p>

"That was...That's...the power...of a real Fairy Tail mage…" she observed, completely blown away.

She followed him as he entered the room, but didn't enter herself. She saw three others enter the room. She had a funny feeling all of the strangers she'd met were the same way...people framed for actions of the fakers.

Ivan's sword had reverted to Eisenmeteor once more, John buttoning his shirt. Leo removed the cartridge from his gauntlet, looking at it for a moment before pocketing it. Corey, meanwhile, shrunk his "Zone" bubble down, whatever it meant, until it vanished into him with a small green glow.

Lucy said nothing, merely looking at everyone meekly.

"So everyone did okay?" Ivan asked of the group.

"Yeah, no problem…" John responded, cracking his neck nonchalantly.

"Yep…" Corey said flatly as Leo nodded.

"Amazing…" Lucy commented, unable to think of any other words to describe what she had seen; and even what she realized she hadn't.

The mature knight from before followed the carnage to the large room, stumbling out from behind Ivan. He looked over the scene, and finally began to speak.

"So...this is the strength of the Fairy Tail Guild's up and coming stars… _The true_..._**Team Souzou**_…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Team Souzou and Lucy-**

Lucy:"Woah! Those guys were actually fakes?! How did such a well known group like Team Souzou get confused with those odd characters anyway…"

*Four others are talking a ways away

_There was a cathedral towards the center of the town, and at the other end was another large building-the guild hall of Fairy Tail._

Ivan:"Did you see that? My fight was amazing…"

John:"Well, you did pretty good… to bad the reader was so focused on mine...they probably couldn't even concentrate on the others going on…"

Corey:"I'm sure the readers were still ready to rip your tongue off after that horrible fake british accent…"

John:"You shut your mouth about my accent! Damn wanker!"

_Mirajane stepped in at this point, walking Elfman away, allowing the five to enter. Lucy was a little...concerned, to say the least. Five seconds in and one member was already attacking another._

Corey:"We're not in disguise anymore, STOP!"

Leo:"Guys, calm down...we need to focus…"

_Both stepped back from one another, magic seals appearing under them. Just then, Elfman intervened by grabbing each of them and slamming their heads together._

John:"...right…"

Corey:"Whatever…"

Leo:"Good….now clearly my fight was the best. Could we get a replay?"

Ivan:"Don't you dare! We don't have much time, replay mine quick!"

_Lucy did what any rational person would do in this situation: hide underneath the nearest table. _

*Lucy takes over camera

Lucy:"Looks like things are about to get rough...why not leave a review and say who you thought was coolest? Next chapter the Souzous real personalities are gonna come to life, don't miss it!"

Ivan:"Explosion!"

Corey:"Script Space On!"

_John had a magic seal forming under his feet, as shadows began to surround him,_

Lucy:"Just what are these magics…"

_***~*The End*~***_


	4. Fairy Tail

**Chapter 4: Fairy Tail**

* * *

><p>Magnolia Town: another town that was also in the kingdom of Fiore.<p>

It was a large town; on one end, a port outlooking towards a vast waterway, with smaller waterways interleaved throughout the town. There was a forest that neighbored the town. Also, there was a cathedral towards the center of the town. At the other end of the town was another large building-the guild hall of Fairy Tail; a meeting place for all of its members.

And Team Souzou's next destination…

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you're taking me to Fairy Tail!" Lucy chirped, clapping her hands together, trailing slightly behind Team Souzou. Ivan and Leo walked slightly in front of her, with Corey and John walking ahead of them.<p>

The team had decided to bring her back with them on their trek back to their hometown.

"Well, we had to get you out of there…" Ivan casually stated, images of the immediate aftermath of the battle running through his mind; also part of the reason why they'd taken her away from there.

* * *

><p><em>The matured knight was rather angry-looking. Which, considering the damage that had been done to the castle during the fights, hadn't been all that surprising. After finally coming down from realizing who Team Souzou was, he now looked upon the Fairy Tail mages with fury.<em>

"_I'll give you all…" He spoke through gritted teeth, "Thirty seconds...to get out of my jurisdiction…"_

"_I thought we agreed all charges could be dropped?!" Ivan questioned in confusion and frustration._

"_That didn't count the castle!" The knight shouted, cutting down Ivan's counterpoint._

"_Ah, give us a break," John responded, trying to appeal the team's case, "Do you know how long we spent in hiding?!"_

"_...Twenty five seconds…" the knight said, clearly not up for a second round._

_That got Team Souzou scattering, running for the nearest exit from Olbesk. Lucy only stood there in confusion, looking around, wondering what she should do. Thankfully, someone had enough sense in his head to try to get her out of there before she got swept up in the whole thing._

_Ivan circled back around, throwing her over his shoulder. Lucy let out a small gasp, but didn't protest once Ivan let her know where they were going..._

* * *

><p>Ivan's arms were folded, his glasses glared, as the memory ended. Lucy, meanwhile, was far more distracted with something up ahead-Corey and John. Corey seemed to be slouching over slightly, while John walked parallel to him, laughing about something. As Headband and Blonde, they seemed to get along, but now…<p>

"They've been...different...on the way over…" Lucy said, unable to put her finger on it.

"You saw them in disguise before…" Ivan responded flatly, pulling up his glasses by the handle, "But you should know, they're actually…"

On cue, Corey swung out his right fist, full-force-Lucy didn't quite see if he did the glowing fist thing again-knocking John down the nearest alleyway. Corey continued to face ahead, walking as though he hadn't just punched anyone.

Lucy could only look at the spectacle with a sweatdrop. Meanwhile, Leo and Ivan nodded, as though this happened everyday.

* * *

><p>"It's actually the Guild Hall!" Lucy cheered, as they reached the building in question. None of the actual members of Fairy Tail bothered to point out how obvious this was. Instead, Ivan moved ahead of the group, towards the entrance.<p>

"Right…" Ivan said to her, looking back to the group, "Welcome to…"

He pushed open the doors, turning towards the entrance, slowly turning his head forward to look into the hall.

"Fairy-"

Ivan halted, his eyes wide. He whipped out that sword of his, swinging his sword down and blocked a punch from a very tall man with silver hair and a massive build. Seeing this prompted Lucy to provide her own reaction.

"Eh?!" The only thing that could come to Lucy's mind in such a situation.

"You dared to show your face back here!?" the man roared. At this point, a smaller woman slid in from behind him, same hair color, blue eyes and a red dress; a face Lucy knew well from _Sorcerer Weekly_.

"Brother...we already explained this…" she said, her tone light to contrast her...brother's angry tone.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Employee: Mirajane Strauss~*~**_

"I won't believe it unless it comes from them!" shouted the man as Ivan finally began to push his fist back. Lucy finally got a good look at him… and he was massive, practically towering over the other guild members around. His white hair noticeably contrasted with his tanned skin. His high collared blue jacket was probably big enough for Lucy to use as a blanket.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: Elfman Strauss~*~**_

"Then give me time to explain!" Ivan responded, moving his sword back to a neutral position as Elfman also backed off for the moment. The man's right eye twitched, the stitched scar that ran down that side of his face twitching with it.

"So you admit you did it!?" Another punch from Elfman. Ivan opted to dodge, his composure breaking into annoyance.

"No!" Ivan shouted.

Mirajane stepped in at this point, walking Elfman away, allowing the five to enter. Lucy was a little...concerned, to say the least. Five seconds in and one member was already attacking another.

"Well that was…" Lucy looked around. Her eyes went wide, realizing she was actually within the doors now.

"Look, the Souzous are back!" A slim mage nearby called out, grabbing the group's attention. He wore a white long-sleeve shirt with two yellow belts that crossed over his torso and a pair of green checkered pants. He had black hair with jagged bald spots on either side of his head, and a giant antenna sort of thing dangling over his head. He also had dark shoes with light soles on, not that one could exactly see the soles of his shoes at present.

"The council kept sending guys looking for you…" A second slim male said. He had spiky orange hair covered by a fancy, brown, high hat. He wore an open brown coat with yellow fur trimmings over a purple shirt and baggy dark pants which were tucked inside dark boots.

"They really made it hard to concentrate…" a short female said, sitting down, looking at a book. Her head was far into the pages that one of her blue colored bangs was hanging down over the cover.

_**~*~Team Shadow Gear: Droy, Jet, and Levy~*~**_

"Ah, Leo!" A man called out to him. The man was significantly older than most of the other people there. He had dark blue hair and a small amount of facial hair which looked more like the result of not shaving rather than any sort of style. He wore a white jacket with blue trimmings over a dark shirt and brown pants held up by a belt. Around his neck was a silver necklace with a large "S" being the thing that dangled from his neck.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: Macao Conbolt~*~**_

Macao practically slid up to Leo's side, putting one arm around him, "So, you use my magic while you were out?"

Just then, another man slid in, removing the limb from Leo's shoulders as though it offended him that it was there. He too, was significantly older than the others. He was even sporting an old fashioned pompadour style haircut. He let out a chuckle, careful to keep the pipe from falling from his mouth.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: Wakaba Mine~*~**_

"You kidding?" Wakaba asked, "He must have used mine!"

As an argument ensued, Leo backed off, not really wanting to get more involved in it than he obviously already was…

It was then, another man walked up with a girl in each arm. He had glasses on too, albeit tinted lenses. He himself wore a green, wide-collared coat with spiky brown fur lining. The light red shirt underneath it was covered with flower motifs. He also had a pair of black pants and whitish sneakers on. His ears were pierced multiple times; two of the earrings were actually studs in his ears.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Playboy Mage: Loke~*~**_

"So, you brought back a cute girl…" Loke stated to Ivan, adjusting his glasses at the nose.

Ivan adjusted his glasses in an identical fashion, "You might say that…"

As the two took turns adjusting their glared glasses repeatedly, John could only look.

"It's uncanny…" he remarked.

"It's not like this is the first time we've seen this happen…" Corey responded flatly.

"Oh, is Erza here?" Ivan asked, adjusting his glasses one final time.

"You just missed her." Loke replied.

"Thank god…" Ivan sighed, slouching in relief.

"The Erza?" Lucy cut in, "Oh, I'd love to meet her!"

"No…" John said, eyes shaded, sweating, "No you wouldn't…"

Corey shook his own head violently, eyes closed.

"What about Alic-I mean, Erza, now?" Leo questioned, only now paying full attention.

Lucy blinked, only able to look at the Souzous. Then, behind Leo, something happened.

"That's it! Let's go!" Macao shouted at Wakaba.

"Bring it!" Wakaba shot back, getting ready for a fight.

Both stepped back from one another, magic seals appearing under them. Just then, Elfman intervened by grabbing each of them and slamming their heads together.

"Don't leave the fighting to yourselves!" he shouted, spin throwing both aside, "Save some for a real man!"

Macao and Wakaba slammed into tables. For only a moment, there was a break in the noise of guildmates chatting...followed by what Lucy could only describe as pandemonium. The guildmates abruptly began to fight amongst themselves. Tables were being flipped, chairs were being tossed about...it was becoming a mess real quick.

"What's happening?!" Lucy shouted in confusion, turning to get some advice from the people that had so kindly brought her here, "Does this-"

She couldn't finish her sentence, for John was sent flying over her head. Corey was there, now looking as aggressive as he had before he fought his fake.

"Round two hundred thirty-seven, then!" he shouted, cracking his knuckles.

As John responded by tackling Corey to the ground and attempting to punch the daylights out of him, Lucy could only react with surprise, "Even those two!?"

She turned to the next sane Souzou she could think of-Ivan, only to find him slamming someone's head into a table repeatedly. Ivan turned calmly, adjusting his glasses with his free hand.

"Were you saying something?" he asked.

"No one here's normal!" Lucy shouted, turning around towards Leo...

"You expected 'normal'?" Leo snarked, dodging a kick from another guild member. He too, was sucked into the violence that ensued.

Loke punched Wakaba into the bar. This got the attention of a woman with long brown hair, who scoffed at the sight of the violence. Her choice of outfit, a blue bikini top, popped out among the masses.

"I can't stand any of the men in this guild…" she stated, starting to chug on a barrel of what Lucy could only assume was booze of some kind.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mage: Cana Alberona~*~**_

Meanwhile, Corey and John were starting to get scuffed up from their skirmish. Corey decided it was time for the hammer to come out, and once again Lucy watched the wireframes come out. However, just as he finished forming it…

Elfman jumped in, punching Corey over the back of the head, decking him.

"A real man fights with fists!" He scolded.

"Yeah!" John agreed, only to find that hammer thrown into his face for his troubles. Ivan, meanwhile, decided to flying kick Elfman in the back of the head.

"I'm in it for the kicks!"

Lucy did what any rational person would do in this situation: hide underneath the nearest table. However, within two seconds of her doing so, John fell, pinned to the ground by Corey. Both turned, somehow noticing her.

"I...really wouldn't do that if I were-" Corey said, completely ignoring the fact John was moving his leg into place...

"Guard's down!" Next thing Lucy knew, Corey was sent flying through the air, courtesy of John's kick. He hit the ground a ways away from them. Ivan too, was sent flying across the room courtesy of Leo's gauntlet hand.

Cana, meanwhile, elected to put her barrel down, standing up.

"Guys…" She drew a single card, holding it above her hand, "It's time to end this…"

Ivan stood, drawing his sword for the second time since coming to the guild hall, his face swelling, "Fine by me…"

Elfman roared as though he were an animal, raising his arm. A magic seal appeared over it, the arm covering itself in stone.

Loke put a ring on his finger, "So troublesome…" A magic seal began to appear over the ring.

Corey stood, a visible lump on his head from where Elfman had earlier hit him, "Alright then…" He raised his hammer, which had somehow gotten back in his hand between when he chucked it over at John, and it began to glow green, like his fist had against his fake.

John had a magic seal forming under his feet, as shadows began to surround him, "Let's finish this with a bang!"

"Oh...now we're talking!" Leo withdrew a cartridge, and plugged it into his gauntlet, a magic seal appearing. All seemed set for an explosive ending, when Lucy noticed a shadow across the room.

A thunderous roar seemed to stop the violence dead in its tracks before magic could be openly used.

"_**ENOUGH YOU BRATS!**_"

All heads turned as a massive shaded giant stomped down.

"He's enormous?!" Lucy shouted, at a total loss. Everyone else stopped what they were doing. Ivan lowered his sword, it tapping the ground. Elfman's fist returned to normal. Corey's hammer vanished, its glow ceasing. John's shadows faded. Leo sighed, his cartridge ejecting.

Loke, meanwhile, already had his arms around the ladies again, "Boy, that sure was scary, wasn't it? Come here…"

"Booze…" Cana groaned, already sitting down and reaching for the barrel.

Lucy slowly crawled out from under the table, sweating at the size of the giant that had intimidated the brawlers.

Ivan eventually raised one hand, resting his other on the sword, "Oh, hey Master…"

"MASTER?!" Lucy shrieked, now gaping at the giant. That was Fairy Tail's Guild Master?

"_**WHO'S THIS?!**_"

At this, Lucy jumped straight up.

"New girl…" Ivan spoke, as casually as though he were sipping from a glass cup.

"_**FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU-**_" The giant began to swear, but for whatever reason, did not finish the statement, waves of wind coming off the massive body. Lucy didn't know what to do but to stare, fully expecting something bad to happen. Instead, the giant began to shrink, and the more it did, the more Lucy felt confusion. Eventually, the giant finished-and was now a small, white-haired old man with an orange jacket and shorts. He also wore a two-horned hat that was orange and blue striped, and the shirt he had on underneath the jacket was white, with the Fairy Tail logo on it in black.

"Whaaat?!" Lucy shrieked again.

"Nice to meet you…" The old man raised his hand.

_**~*~Master of Fairy Tail: Makarov Dreyar~*~**_

Makarov proceeded to jump up to the balcony, looking over the guild members.

"What am I gonna do with all of you…" He stated flatly, withdrawing several documents from his coat. "I just got more complaints from the council."

"Council...they're in charge of all the guilds…" Lucy said to herself, as Makarov looked over the documents and began to read them out, one-by-one.

"Cana, you were out charging your alcohol to the council again!" Makarov shouted.

"They found out…" Cana stated.

"Loke, flirting with one of the council's granddaughters...Elfman, assaulting a parade float and trying to Take Over one of its arms!" Makarov continued to read off the laundry list of offenses.

"It was...so realisitic…" Elfman reflected on the incident.

"And finally, Team Souzou...we had to hear from the council over those fakers who stole your identities and destroyed an entire town...and then while proving yourselves innocent, you trashed their branch castle in Olbesk!"

"In our defense…" John began.

"_There is no 'D' in my name…_" Corey repeated, his upper face hidden by his hair.

"And, we didn't get charged…" Ivan said, raising one finger. Leo, meanwhile, merely half-shrugged.

"The council members are always angry with me...always threatening the guild with punishments...and all I have to say…" Makarov trailed off, the guild going silent. Lucy felt fear surge within her. What was he about-

"Forget about those damn council members!" Makarov said, lighting the documents on fire and throwing them down. John swiped his arm in response, a tendril of shadows shooting up and piercing the papers, splitting them in two.

"Eh…?" Lucy questioned.

"Listen up…" Makarov started, "You have all come to this guild to further yourself and your knowledge of magic...but magic is born from freedom...your freedom to directly change the world…"

Ivan put his sword on his back, listening intently.

"The council wishes to restrict your freedom, which is a restriction to your magic! To hell with the council that would restrict your reason for being here! We do whatever we want!"

Makarov raised his hand, index and thumb extended.

"That's what we've all done, as Fairy Tail mages!"

The entire guild cheered around her, and Lucy grinned widely…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>"With that, you're officially a member of Fairy Tail…" Mirajane explained, as the stamp appeared on Lucy's right hand-pink in color. Lucy looked down, awestruck.<p>

"Whoa…" She turned to the people that had brought her here, ecstatic, "Look, she gave me the mark of Fairy Tail!"

Ivan was slouching sadly, his glasses glared, filling out paper after paper. Corey and John were testing out who could eat the most the fastest, evidently...and it seemed to be a dead heat. Leo was just tapping the table, bored; none of them even looked up from what they were doing. Lucy felt a little...disappointed that they didn't seem to care about it…

"Don't mind them, they've been gone for a while dodging the council after their last mission in Bosco…" Mirajane said casually.

"You mean they went out of Fiore?!" Lucy asked, once more finding herself awestruck.

"Indeed, they were personally asked to in fact…" This response came with a friendly smile...which she usually had on her face anyway. "Ever since joining the guild, they've had such an interest in going all over…"

Mirajane leaned in close to Lucy's ear, and whispered, "Don't tell anyone, but I think they're up there towards becoming Fairy Tail's strongest team…"

"HA!" John shouted, food flying out of his mouth. Corey's face was that of annoyance, his eye twitching, the bone end of a drumstick sticking out of his mouth. Ivan, meanwhile, was far more annoyed, flipping the desk he was sitting at.

"UGGGHHHHH!" A heavily irritated shout ensued from Ivan's mouth; Lucy shot him a look, not quite realizing why…

"Being the leader of the team, Ivan has to deal with all the paperwork…"

"So many bills!" Ivan shouted, "Next time we're doing a mission for a wealthy person," His left hand shot up, index pointing to Corey, "don't throw your hammer into the priceless art! And," Now he pointed at John, "Don't scare a little girl to the point she falls off a roof...with her own shadow!"

Corey and John both looked away. Lucy chuckled as John made an excuse:

"It was a shadow puppet, I was just trying to make her laugh!"

"Not what it looked like to me…" Corey snarked, finishing the drumstick.

"And what do you mean by that?!"

"You said…" Lucy continued, turning back to Mira, "They might be Fairy Tail's strongest team, right?"

Mirajane continued to smile, "They're a pretty rambunctious bunch, but don't be fooled, they're well known for their magic and abilities…"

* * *

><p><em>Images began to pop up-a visual aid that would be on what we would refer to as a "Powerpoint Slide". Mirajane began to explain, as Lucy looked on.<em>

"_Ivan, known as the Sword Saint, or he who wields the shifting blade…" _

_A shrunken form of Ivan appeared, swinging a comically oversized version of the sword he was wielding before._

"_His sword can change into different forms, each allowing him to use different abilities." The Ivan began to swing a morphing sword as Mirajane continued to explain, "He's also believed to be tied for Fairy Tail's second strongest swordsman, behind Erza."_

"_Who's he tied with-" Lucy never got an answer; Mira continued to go down the roster._

"_Next, John. They call him the Khalkaroth."_

"_The Callca-wha?" Lucy questioned._

_A shrunken form of John appeared, replacing Ivan. _

"_The Khalkaroth. He used Shadow Magic, from which his is quite unique…"_

_Shadow tendrils and fists appeared around John as Mira continued, "You won't find many users with that kind of magic as destructive as him…"_

_Lucy nodded._

"_Now Leo's the quietest, but he gets his strength from the bonds he's made with everyone here, really…"_

_Leo replaced John in the stage, also shrunken, "They call him the All Fist, a name he gets from being able to use other mages' magics thanks to the gauntlet on his fist."_

_Leo pumped his gauntlet fist in the air._

"_Use other people's magics?" Lucy asked, "How can he do that?"_

"_Well, he's able to generate these cartridges, that store the concentrated magic of others. He has many, filled to the brim with the magic of many of Fairy Tails' mages. He can plug them into his gauntlet, which he can't remove…"_

_The Leo put his cartridge into the gauntlet…_

"_And use it's magic until it runs out!"_

_Purple flames shot out of the gauntlet as Leo continued to pump his fists._

"_Amazing...I've never heard of anything like it…" Lucy said. Then her mind returned her to something else she hadn't quite seen or heard of before either, "What about Corey? I saw him fighting his fake and...well, I wasn't sure what he was doing…"_

"_Corey? Well...I'm not entirely sure. He's called the Lexicon. He uses a magic of his own creation called Java Script."_

"_Java...Script…?" Lucy was confused at the name, "What?"_

"_It allows him to change his own characteristics in a limited way." Mirajane explained, as Lucy remembered the glowing fist technique Corey had used._

_A shrunken version of Corey appeared, throwing glowing punches._

"_But he can also extend that range, and create a sort of zone that he can do the same thing within...Though his editing of other living things is questionable…"_

_A sphere extended from the small Corey, covering the other Souzous. They became covered in red "X"s as Mira continued on._

"_I've also seen him store things, though I'm not completely sure how that works…"_

* * *

><p>Lucy was pulled out the lecture by that revelation.<p>

"He created a magic so complicated all on his own?" Lucy questioned, "That's…"

She turned back to where she knew Team Souzou was.

"Amazi-"

She stopped short.

"Eh?!"

John had Corey in a rather vicious headlock. Lucy couldn't ignore that, and began to run over, panicking as Corey turned blue. Leo merely watched, while Ivan resumed doing his mountain of paperwork. As this happened, Mirajane continued her lecture to herself, nodding.

* * *

><p>"<em>And with all of them together…"<em>

_She looked up to her visual aids of the Souzous, who raised their respective weapons in the air._

"_They make Team Souzou!"_

_Continuing to herself, Mirajane thought a single thought,_

"_But...you would have never guessed they'd come so far in half a year, given how they first were when they joined…"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Lucy and Mirajane-**

Lucy:"We're gonna see the Souzous when they joined the guild next!?"

Mirajane:"That's right, it's the new arc. The birth of Fairy Tails "Strongest Team", Souzou Origins!"

_It wasn't too hard to power up the laptop and get it booted up-it had been left on, after all. He pulled over his chair as the computer finished waking up._

Lucy:"I bet they looked so cute all young!"

Mirajane:"We're not going that far back…"

Lucy:"Oh…"

_Corey was back to being venomous-Ivan's cue to once again begin tuning the call out. _

Happy:"Who does Lucy thinks cute…?"

Lucy:"Where did you come from cat!?"

Happy:"Lucy rrrriiiiikkeeesss someone~"

Loke:"Oh? Does she now…"

_He was getting ready to test his latest app-an insult generator, when suddenly, a flash filled his vision. He gasped. Once the light cleared, his chair was empty._

Mirajane:"Oh my…"

Lucy:"You guys aren't suppose to be here! This was our first all girls special!"

Happy:"See you guys next time, for the start of the Souzou Origins arc!"  
><em><br>He opened his eyes-the pupils glowing a dark blue as an image of what he just read went through his head._

Lucy:"Hey, that's my line!"

Happy:"Bye-sir!"

_***~*The End*~***_


	5. An Unexpected Start

**Chapter 5: An Unexpected Start**

* * *

><p><em>Several months ago, in a parallel world…<em>

_Even the guildmates of the Souzous don't know everything there is to know about the quartet. They just assumed they were from out of Fiore, and never really thought to look any deeper. _

_However, in reality, the Souzous were from a world much like our own. In fact...it was our own, a world far removed from a world filled with magic; one that was every bit as ordinary as white paper. Corey, John, Ivan and Leo had all hailed from another dimension and had warped to Earth Land by accident!_

_This is the story of how these four boys became Fairy Tail's rising stars…_

* * *

><p>Somewhere in this different world, a kid with brown hair pushed up his glasses. He had just come home from school, hence the backpack that he was currently already taking one arm out of. As he began to walk upstairs towards his room, he smiled lightly. As he passed into his room, he tossed off the pack, letting it land with a small thud on the floor to his right.<p>

Turning to his bed, he retrieved a closed laptop, opening it and setting it down on his desk. It wasn't too hard to power up the laptop and get it booted up-it had been left on, after all. He pulled over his chair as the computer finished waking up.

This kid was Ivan, in his previous life in this world. And, he shared this life with three others he knew through the Internet; he'd never met them, but he was proud to call them "friend" all the same. They all communicated through Skype, a program which acted as a sort of phone between computers. Speaking of which, it appeared there was a call going on right now.

Ivan clicked the "Join Call" button and waited for his connection to go through. Two seconds later, Ivan's chair slid back, Corey's voice yelling loud and clear through the connection at...who else?

"Game's up, John, The Joker is a piece of shit and you know it!"

_What else could Corey possibly be arguing about_, Ivan pondered, his eyes narrowing at Corey's rather zealous attack on a rather popular comic book villain.

"And that's why so many people love him, Corey," John responded, not sounding nearly as fired up as Corey was, "Can't you see it?"

"I see it, alright," Corey was the volcano, erupting right next to your ear, "And I find the concept of liking him to be grade-S bullshit!"

"I don't understand why this bothers you…" John, by comparison, was the lamb, quietly bleating; somehow, this annoyed the volcano into continuously erupting. Ivan couldn't remember the last time Corey was dormant.

"We've gone over this…" Corey grumbled, still clearly mad.

"Whatever… Oh, Ivan joined the call." John noted, trying to shift the subject.

"Oh, yeah." Corey was suddenly calmer now, "Uh...hi Ivan. I was just kindly informing John about how wrong the Joker is as a character and why people should feel even a little bad for liking him."

"You're shouting at a wall…" John quipped, "And Leo...I'm not sure where he is…"

"Every time I come back from b.r.b. you two are talking as stupidly as always…" Leo grumbled, coming back to his computer, Ivan could tell.

"Stupidly?!" Corey shouted again.

"He's not wrong…" John said.

"Ivan!" Leo shouted, "Ivan?! Hey...Ivan?"

Ivan had been mostly tuning out the Skype call, fiddling with his phone. Blinking, he realized the argument had more or less been halted, and sat up.

"Ivaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" Leo continued to say into his laptop.

"No, stop…" Ivan cut Leo off mid-statement.

"Hi." Leo said flatly as he recognized the voice.

"Hola…" Ivan responded with one of the few Spanish words that any American would know-also one of the few he'd committed to memory. That class just wasn't going as well as he'd hoped.

"Finally started forty-six…" said Corey, sounding like he was back in the zone. Ivan knew it well-he was the co-writer -slash- editor on that series. For Corey's part, he seemed to know what he was doing without his help.

"Uh-huh…?" Leo asked, not sounding overly enthusiastic-par for the course, really, "Haven't watched it since Shadow's Dark form moment…"

Corey specialized in the crossover department; it seemed like he could take any couple of things and find a way to force them to fit together.

"You have a bit of catching up to do then…" Corey responded, the sounds of clicking barely audible from his end; possibly his mouse.

"Eeeh…" Leo backpedaled just as soon as Corey made his statement, "Horrible internet...etcetera, etcetera… Not gonna do it any time soon… no offense…"

"Loved that dark form!" John piped in excitedly.

"I bet you did…" Corey was back to being venomous-Ivan's cue to once again begin tuning the call out. The call continued without him, as he opened up a manga streaming site.

"Shut up...Dark powers are awesome when used right!" John shot back aggressively.

"Yeah, when used right...which happens less than ten percent of the time…" Corey retorted. One of the things Ivan really hated about the argumentative Corey was the fact he would quote statistics he was sure he was pulling out of his ass.

Ivan continued to browse, stumbling on a rather popular work: _Rave Master_.

_Hmm...might re-read this…_ Ivan thought to himself, recalling all the ins and outs of that storyline; it was an interesting read, to say the least.

"And yet again, John takes my schtick…" Leo complained.

"...Hm…" Corey said, "Alright, done animating for the day…" More clicking was audible; Ivan wondered if he'd even gotten anything done in the last three minutes, "Now...to start a coding project…"

Leo grumbled to himself, "Damn internet…"

"Code a vending machine to punch people in the nuts!" John "suggested" as the frantic sounds of typing took over Corey's end.

"Why would it need to punch people in the nuts…?" Corey asked, oddly calm as the typing sounds only slowed.

"The better question would be...why wouldn't you?" John answered with another question.

"You still need to finish my EKG monitor thingy…" Leo cut in at this point. Ivan blinked, surprised.

"Oh yeah...Still trying to work out how the line should move…" Corey said, directed at Leo.

Corey was something of a coding prodigy-he had even incorporated it into his animations here and there.

"But not everyone deserves a punch in the nuts John…" Corey continued, "Though...I do owe you a few."

"Except John...right?" Leo asked. A few moments later, he groaned, apparently only now hearing Corey's statement, "Damned internet…"

Lag was a common thing with Leo; it seemed like every other call he'd be suffering from internet connection issues.

"Side topic…" John said, "You never showed us what you look like with glasses, Ivan."

"...alright, fine…" Ivan said, bringing the camera on his phone up. With closed eyes and a highly anime-ish smile plastered on his face, he pushed the button.

A flash of light filled Ivan's eyelids-one more powerful than a phone camera would put up.

His phone left his hand, hitting the floor. Ivan himself had vanished along with that light...

* * *

><p>On Corey's end, he typed vigorously. He was getting ready to test his latest app-an insult generator, when suddenly, a flash filled his vision. He gasped, unsure of what it meant.<p>

Once the light cleared, his computer chair was empty.

* * *

><p>John quipped "Be right back", entirely oblivious to what had happened on Ivan and Corey's ends. He went for the door, unaware of the light coming up behind him. He reached out for the door handle, and turned it…<p>

Exactly one moment later, the door swung open, but John was not there to walk through it…

* * *

><p>Leo snarled at the blank white page on his monitor. He was in the middle of reading another manga known only as <em>Magic Warfare<em>...until the internet crapped out. Left with no other option, Leo began to shout three words.

"God...damned...Internet!"

Leo began to slap his modem around, in hopes that it would teach it a lesson for being so lazy. Unfortunately for him, he didn't notice a light of his own until it engulfed him, making him vanish from this world as well.

* * *

><p>Ivan wasn't sure how he felt as he flew through this black void; it definitely didn't feel right, though. He opened his eyes-the pupils glowing a dark blue as an image of what he just read went through his head. Not sure what that was all about, Ivan looked ahead, realizing he was heading straight for a light. His eyes widened, but when he hit the light, he realized he still had his five senses-he was still alive.<p>

His eyes opened-he wasn't home anymore, but in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees and other plants. His glasses had managed to stay on his face the whole time, but that was hardly a thing-He was in a forest now, after all. He rolled his head to face his right side.

A large, silver sword was stabbed into the ground next to him…

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Ivan and Lucy-**

Lucy:"Wait wait wait, Team Souzou is from another world!?"

Ivan:"God I look so young…"

_The first thing Ivan decided to do was adjust his glasses, as they had fallen askew during that trippy vortex. _

Lucy:"You had never met in person before coming here!?"

Ivan:"Maybe I should start moisturizing…hmm…"

_Not that Leo cared too much about it straight away, struggling to dislodge his hand from the gauntlet or the branches, whichever came first._

Lucy:"But why were you all brought here!?"

_Shaking his head, Leo redirected his attention to the squealing fanboy,_

Ivan:"Lucy, could you stop yelling please?"

_Precisely one second later, both Ivan and John were running full speed down the road, a cloud of dust trailing behind them._

Lucy:"Why aren't you explaining anything!?"

_***~*The End*~***_


	6. They Finally Meet

**Chapter 6: They Finally Meet**

* * *

><p>The first thing Ivan decided to do was adjust his glasses, as they had fallen askew during that trippy vortex. He needed to, so that he could see clearly in this new location. The teen proceeded to reach up, pulling himself up on something he hadn't fully noticed-that blade that had been in the ground next to him. He didn't know where he was-he could tell even without looking completely around. Suddenly, Ivan took full notice of where his hand was, and jumped back, wide eyed, spotting the impossibly large blade.<p>

"That's…" Ivan started, something building in the pupil of his eye; what seemed like a tiny, tiny twinkle.

* * *

><p>In the same forest, not too far from Ivan, another boy was stirring. His hair was short, yet messy, brown in color-seemingly spiked up now that he could look at himself. And he wasn't fit at all, judging from the bloated mid-section. One of his hands went up, holding his head.<p>

He wore a gray hoodie, a dark gray shirt with three different graphics on it, all green, each meaning "eat", "game" and "sleep", respectively. He also wore dark gray sweatpants and white shoes.

"What…?" His eyes opened-hazel in color. "What happened…? Where...where is this place?"

As he struggled to his feet, Corey groaned to himself., one hand glued to his head as he struggled to his feet.

"Ugh...headache…" Corey continued to rise, trying to survey his surroundings with one eye open. He could see he was surrounded on what looked like all sides by trees. There was a path not too far off on his right. Suddenly, something caught Corey's eye, and directed his sight downward to the ground.

"What…?" Corey looked down, bewildered at the object that was there, maybe five yards from his right. It was a hammer.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, still in the same forest, not too far off from either Corey or Ivan, another boy was walking about, coming out from behind the trees. Like Corey, he wasn't the most fit person in the world. He wore a black jacket with blue stripes down each sleeve, rolled up to his elbows, with a dark green undershirt. He also wore blue jeans and black shoes with red soles. His hair, black, his eyes, also hazel, but of a different color than Corey's.<p>

Only now, however, did this boy-John-realize where he was, and turned around, expecting to see his room.

"What the…" Seeing more forest on all sides, John mused, "H-how did I get here?"

* * *

><p>Still elsewhere in the forest, this time atop a small tree, another teen was there-Leo, stuck in a tree, as his opened eyes told him. He looked down, seeing more branches and the ground a ways off. Trying to wiggle his way out of the situation, he looked up, seeing what was holding him in place.<p>

His hand was caught between two branches, extending his arm out to full length as he dangled several feet above ground. He was sort of thin, silver hair, red eyes, wearing normal person clothes. However, as he looked upon his hand, he realized his hand wasn't naked. It had a metallic shine over it-a gauntlet of some sort.

"The hell?" Leo questioned, seeing that the gauntlet looked incredibly familiar.

At that moment, the hills came alive, with the sound of…

"_**SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**_!"

Not that Leo cared too much about it straight away, struggling to dislodge his hand from the gauntlet or the branches, whichever came first. One of the branches that had him caught by the gauntlet broke, and he tumbled down quite painfully, hitting just about every branch on his way back down to the ground.

Leo slowly got back to his feet after that, surprisingly able to just shrug off the incident. Finally, he headed towards the scream, trying to take the gauntlet off the whole way there. The scream did not let up the whole time he was heading in its direction. When he got there, he noticed a rather familiar face (all those Skype selfies helped to burn the image into his mind)...

The source of the screaming, it turned out, was Ivan, glomping a silver sword, squealing like a fangirl.

"...Ivan?" Leo wasn't the first to ask, to his surprise. He recognized the voice well, though. When he turned to his right, he saw John, and a bit further away, Corey, also carrying something new: a hammer.

Ivan finally stopped screeching at the sound of John's voice, slowly turning to face the group.

"That was...you…?" Corey asked, sounding shocked.

Leo remained silent, as John looked around, seeing both Corey and himself now.

"Corey...Leo?" John asked.

"Eh…?" Corey questioned, looking around at everyone, "You guys, too?"

Leo blinked as both John and Corey turned to him, "Uh-hey! I swear to God I had nothing to do with this!"

Shaking his head, Leo redirected his attention to the squealing fanboy, "Ivan…?"

"Oh...hi...guys…" Ivan was still surgically attached to the sword, clinging to it like a monkey to a tree.

"So...uh...why were you…" John began, before doing a double-take, seeing the sword for the first time, "Wait, i-is that…"

"...What is it, John?" Corey questioned, "I've never seen it before."

Leo would have wondered aloud why Corey hadn't yet splattered John all across the countryside with his new hammer yet, but he was far more distracted with what Ivan said next.

"You don't get to touch it. Ever…" Ivan snarled, his grip on the sword seeming to tighten.

Ivan continued to cling to the sword, it sliding out of place, slanting. Leo slowly began to walk closer, aiming to touch the blade that Ivan so coveted. Of course, this didn't sit well with the kid in question, and he leapt up, still holding the sword with one of his hands…

And his jump carried him ten feet into the air, causing him to stab his newly acquired sword into the tree and hanging there. This gave Leo ample room to be a wise-ass.

"And here I thought I was the tree...hugger…" Leo realized something was wrong with that last sequence; namely, the part where Ivan jumped high into the air, "Wait…"

He then looked to Corey, whose hammer looked oddly familiar now that he thought about it. He couldn't place it offhand, but it seemed very familiar all the same.

"How the hell did he manage that?!" John yelled, confused at the sight of Ivan performing that kind of jump, especially with the sword he was holding.

"Guys…" Corey stated, brandishing the hammer, swinging it...rather easily for someone who wasn't known for his exercise, "This hammer feels heavier than it looks...But I'm swinging it like nothing…Something's definitely off here."

"Yeah, no doubt…" John said, his voice shifting just a little, "Who knew you could be that strong…"

Something behind Leo thudded, probably Ivan falling off the tree.

"Watch it, John…" Corey snarled, "I'm really not in the mood for your shit…"

"Is this really the time for you two to be fighting like usual?" Leo asked, only mildly annoyed, "We've finally met for the first time, in the middle of nowhere…"

"And there's something else…" John responded, abandoning the impending argument, "Have you really looked around? Something seems to be off with-"

John cut himself off, spotting something behind Leo.

"Ivan...how long are you gonna cuddle it…" John now sounded disturbed.

At this, Leo turned around, spotting Ivan, glasses glared, stroking the sword delicately. This in itself was already bizarre, but then Ivan began whispering to the blade.

"Yeah...he's just jealous…" Ivan said, like he were whispering to a lover, "Are you...really...mine…?"

Leo was feeling pretty creeped out by this display, feeling a shiver dance up his spine at the sight of Ivan's budding relationship.

John and Corey shared similar sentiments, evidently. The former spoke up, trying to desperately shift the group's focus.

"Uh...anyway…"

"Really, Ivan…" Leo began, also feeling incredibly disturbed, "Can we figure this out…?"

_We're all here, in an area we've never seen... and...Ivan's holding the Ten Commandments…_ John thought to himself. _Not just that, but using it like it's his…_

Ivan finally quit creepily cuddling the sword, standing, swinging it over his shoulder. He lifted his free hand, curling it into a fist.

"It's clearly a dream," Ivan observed. John wasn't so sure, and quickly walked over to Ivan, pinching him hard. At about the same time, Leo found it perfectly within reason to pinch Corey.

"Hey! He said it!" Corey protested, pointing at Ivan. That sign of protest-plus the fact John's pinch seemed to affect him, caused Ivan to once again begin looking upon his sword with all the vigor of a stalker.

"Is this...real…?" Ivan said, his glasses gaining an unholy glare as he looked to the sword.

John quickly took a step back before Ivan continued to get carried away. Quickly, John felt a need to achieve confirmation, and turned to Corey with one question on his mind.

"You aren't going to do that with the hammer, right?" John asked.

"...No." Corey responded flatly, looking as though he wanted to hit him with the weapon in question. Good for him.

"Anyway...We should try to find a town, or something...Maybe we'll figure out where we are…" John suggested, circling the group back to its main problem: where the hell they were.

"Y-yes, please…" Corey stuttered, looking over to Ivan's sword fetishism with a heavy bead of sweat down one side of his head, "We'd better get going…"

Leo licked his not-covered finger, putting it up to the air. A slight breeze came in.

"The wind's going that way!" Leo pointed out-literally, with the finger that he used for his test.

With that, the four were off to the direction Leo pointed, following the path through the forest...

* * *

><p>A small while later, the four were walking through what seemed to be a beaten path. Ivan was trailing the group, gleefully swinging the sword.<p>

"You know, I'd wonder what he'd do if he's alone with it…" John joked, trying not to think too hard on that.

"And this is about the time Corey makes a certain reference…" Leo observed, hands in his pockets.

"Not this time…" Corey growled, twitching just a little in place.

"Because I'm within striking distance…" John whispered, believing no one could hear him.

"Exactly…" Corey responded, surprising John, "And don't you forget it…"

"You heard-" John started, but was cut off by-

"Anyway!" Leo interjected, "Look, there!" He nodded his head towards a sign. John spotted the sign, and quickly ran up to it.

"Hm...Let's see…" He stared upon it for a few seconds before something came over him, and he let out a gasp, "Ivan!"

At this point, Corey and Leo ducked down, Ivan's sword flying over their heads and stabbing the sign, narrowly missing John.

"It slipped!" Ivan shouted, sounding more excited than apologetic, "Don't touch it!"

John blinked, before shrugging off the incident, too excited from what he read on the sign to care that he almost got stabbed, "Whatever, read this!"

Ivan put his hand on the hilt of the blade, and looked upon the sign. Precisely one second later, both Ivan and John were running full speed down the road, a cloud of dust trailing behind them.

"Wait! John! Ivan!" Corey shouted, holding up his arm in protest. However his shouts fell on deaf ears, and he began running after them, "Dammit!"

As Leo began to inspect the sign, Ivan ran back, passing Corey, who could only shoot him a dirty look as he continued to follow John.

"Magnoli-" Leo began, before Ivan nearly slashed Leo in his rush to retrieve his sword, "Ah!?"

Ivan continued to run, passing Corey (who seemed to be running surprisingly well given his size). Meanwhile, Leo's brain processed what he just read on the sign.

"Magnolia...Magnolia...Oh!" Leo's eyes widened, and he shot to his feet, taking off after Corey, whose head snapped back in his direction, "Guys, wait up!"

"What'd you say?!" Corey asked of Leo as he got close.

"I said 'wait up'!" Leo repeated.

"Before that…" Corey said, more deadpan and annoyed.

"Magnolia…" Leo summarized. Corey's eyes went wide, knowing that place all too well...

* * *

><p>Ahead of them, Ivan and John were neck-and-neck, racing to God-knows-where. Suddenly, both felt themselves slamming into something. A few seconds later, a familiar female voice reprimanded them…<p>

"Running through town is dangerous...especially when carrying weapons…"

Ivan and John were both in a headlock by a female mage. She wore armor on her upper body; silver in color with a golden sideways capital "T" on the left side stretching to her right. Underneath that golden "T" was a purplish-red Fairy Tail stamp that matched the blue stamp on her arm; barely visible underneath the plate of armor. She also wore gauntlets over her hands as well. She had black boots and a blue skirt on. But the most prominent feature of all was her head of red hair, one brown eye peeking out from underneath her bangs and looking upon Ivan and John with a disdainful look.

_***~*S-Class Fairy Tail Mage: Erza Scarlet*~***_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Lucy, Corey, and John-**

Lucy:"Woah! S-Class!?"

Corey:"And so _that woman_ enters…"

John:"To think back then we were so excited to meet her…"

Lucy:"You guys are weird...oh! I'm gonna get to see the Souzous meeting everyone from Fairy Tail next!"

John:"Looking back on it, why'd you get the lamest weapon Corey…"

Corey:"I don't know, why'd you get all the nothing John?"

John:"Touché…"

Lucy:"Why'd some of you get things at all…"

John:"Looks like we're out of time."

Corey:"On to the next chapter."

Lucy:"EH!? Why is nothing explained!?"

_***~*The End*~***_


	7. Welcome to Fairy Tail

**Chapter 7: Welcome to Fairy Tail**

* * *

><p>Neither Ivan nor John could believe it when they read the sign, but now, with Erza right in front of them, they were completely rendered speechless by the sight of her.<p>

They were in Magnolia Town of the Fiore Kingdom, alright! There was no doubt about it.

"Snnggg….hfff...flaaaa…." John's entire vocabulary was obliterated for the moment. He, in that instant, was only able to speak the language of rabid fanboys. Ivan, meanwhile, was right next to him, on his knees, jaw dropped a foot, his eyes converted to stars. And as Erza slightly tilted her head, Ivan fell forward on his face out of the shock.

And as John began to slap himself in the face to activate his reset button, Corey and Leo finally caught up, the former of whom was breathing a little hard from the effort.

"Finally…" As he looked up, he too, recognized, the character, and his eyes widened. Compared to Ivan and John's reactions, this was considerably more low-key. "That's-"

Leo's uncovered hand quickly shot out, covering Corey's mouth, preventing him from speaking further. It didn't stop him from thinking about what they both knew, though.

_So...we really are…_

Leo slowly lowered his hand, keeping his eyes on Erza the whole time, whispering her name in shock. She finally began to address the group-had she seen the other two coming this whole time?

"So why are you all in such a hurry?" she asked of them. Ivan responded by dragging his body forward, still in fangasm mode. He looked up to Erza, still unable to speak, his starred eyes streaming tears. Eventually, he, like John, decided he needed to perform a hard reset on himself, and figured slapping himself would do the trick. He eventually adjusted his glasses, but still could not speak.

"Hist sneug heuf fla…" Ivan drabbled, still failing at assembling an English sentence.

Erza brought her hand to chin, as though she were considering Ivan's incoherency. But there was no way she could understand him, righ-

"I see, you wished to visit the guild?" asked Erza, sounding as though she completely understood what Ivan was trying to tell her.

"She understood…?" Corey asked, in total shock.

"It's Erza...if she didn't understand Ivan's current state we'd have a problem…" Leo stated, which seemed to further draw the female mage's attention to them.

"Oh, you've heard of me?" Erza asked, lifting Ivan by one arm. Ivan was beginning to foam at the mouth like a rabid dog, probably from the situation at hand.

"Yeah, we're…" John paused, seeing his friend's reaction, "...Uh...big fans."

"Excellent!" Ivan was set down on his feet as Erza continued.

"Uh...huh...Well then…" Leo began walking towards, Corey awkwardly following him after a moment.

"If you wish for a visit, I will take you to the guild hall post haste!" Erza said, dragging Ivan, who stood completely straight, dragging his sword and feet. Sparks flew off of the tip of the sword and, surprisingly, his shoes, as he was dragged right along. The other three watched, more concerned about Ivan's condition for the time being.

"If he's catatonic now...imagine what'll happen when he sees the rest of the guild…" John observed, beginning to follow.

"Right…" Leo responded flatly, following after John.

After his friends got a few steps away, Corey began to follow them, thinking to himself the whole way.

_Jeez...ran right into things here…_

* * *

><p>A short while later, the group reached the Fairy Tail guild hall. John looked up to the structure, and made a small observation.<p>

_The old guild hall…?_ John thought, _So that means we're pretty early on..._

"Well, here we are!" Erza called out, pushing the doors open with one hand.

The scene on the other side was familiar-the guild hall was ripe with rowdy members trying to kill one another in friendly battles. No magic was being used, but just like the scene Lucy would be greeted with several months later, there was a certain sense of carnage in the hall all the same. Leo's eyes widened at the wanton violence.

"Sure enough…" Corey mumbled, though Erza didn't seem to pay much attention to his sentiment. "Just gonna…" John cast a glance back to Corey, who seemed to be hunching over a bit, and not from the fact he was still dragging his hammer. "Yeah."

_Ah, Fairy Tail, don't change…_ John said, taking in the sight of debris flying in every given direction, as Leo and Corey went in ahead of him.

"I'll just…" Leo said, looking around as though he was going to find a space to sit in the chaos.

"How do they function?" Corey's guttural whisper seemed to indicate he was trying very hard to not have attention drawn to him. It was here, everyone, John included, seemed to realize they were forgetting something.

"Ivan?" Leo asked, turning back to face Ivan, "You alive?"

Ivan seemed to have literally lost any semblance of color, as though someone just dumped bleach all over him, as he was all white now, laying on the ground.

"Oh God…" Corey responded to the sight, facepalming, "Do I need to fetch the defrib paddles…"

"Hm…" John seemed to consider it.

"I'll pump," Leo said, deadpan, "Who wants to kiss him…"

"Did I hear...kissing?" a familiar, male voice asked from their left.

At this, the trio who were still not catatonic from the shock of it all turned to their collective right, seeing Loke there with an arm around a girl-and his other around another.

Leo's eye twitched, and he offered his input, "If you like?"

John, upon spotting Loke, began to think to himself, _Wait… he's-_

Corey turned to John and spoke through his gritted teeth. John read his lips fairly easy: the gist of it being that no one seemed to know what they did; about his thoughts exactly.

_He hasn't stopped acting the role of human…_ John thought, referring to Loke.

Leo looked around, one eyebrow creased. John wasn't sure why, but it was almost like Leo was trying to see something…

"Well now, who have we here?" asked yet another familiar voice. All heads turned back towards Ivan; the voice had come from his direction.

At this point, the trio noticed Makarov standing right next to the catatonic Ivan. John's eyes went wide from the sight.

_Uh oh…_ John thought, taking a subtle step back.

"Take cover!" Corey grunted, hiding underneath the nearest table, as Ivan's hand began to come to life.

"Just who are these youngsters you've brought in, Erza-" Makarov's sentence was cut short when Ivan's hand wrapped around one end of the old man's mustache. "I-" Makarov was brought down to the floor, head slamming into the ground, staring into twin stars of whiteness.

"_**Master!**_" This was a loud voice, and one the three knew very well.

Leo slinked off to one side, seeing the impending crisis. Corey ducked down even lower, mumbling the word "shit" as fast as he could repeat it.

"Nope!" John yelled, moving aside as Elfman tore through the crowd, attempting to help the fallen Master. A light shot outward, lifting him from his feet and slamming through a table...into Corey.

"Ow…" Corey groaned, eyes tearing up, flat on his stomach.

Ivan, meanwhile, was being held up to the ceiling by a massive hand, the Guild Hall falling silent as a massive giant now towered over them-Titan Makarov.

"Y-you'll…" John said, walking up to the titan, sweating and smiling awkwardly, "You'll have to excuse my friend here...h-he has a hard time around people he looks up to…"

The titan looked down at John, with large glowing eyes. Ivan fell to the ground not too long afterward, the gargantuan Makarov returning to his normal size, hands behind his back.

"Ah, yes of course…" Makarov quipped, raising one hand.

"Well said...John…?" Leo sounded like he was still thinking, distracted with something else entirely.

_That's all it took?_ John thought to himself, seeing how quickly it took for Makarov to cool down.

"Mira!" This was Ivan's voice. John looked back, seeing Ivan wasn't anywhere near Makarov at all now. John whirled around, seeing Ivan was now at the bar, greeting all the characters he knew...which wasn't too hard. "Cana!"

Ivan continued to repeat this process, greeting just about everyone he could see, completely spazzing out.

A loud groan sounded from John's side, and he turned to see Corey, somehow having pushed himself out from under Elfman and rising to his feet afterward, dusting himself off.

"Ugh...That's the last time I hide under a table here…" Corey grumbled.

"Do you even lift, bro?" John asked.

"Don't tempt me…" Corey responded, hunching over and clenching his fists, "Maybe I can polish my John toss skills after all!"

"Bring it!" John said, mimicking his posture. Just then, there was a terrible roar from behind them, and both froze, Corey's face pulling into a most hilarious grimace.

"Um…" Leo began. He and John wisely split at this point, leaving a wide-eyed Corey to his fate, which they all assumed was going to be horrible.

* * *

><p>While all this happened, Erza and Makarov discussed what was happening with the newcomers.<p>

"I assumed it was alright to bring these travelers here for a visit," Erza stated.

"Yes, of course," Makarov repeated. At this point, he noticed Ivan's blade on the floor, walking over to it. "Did you leave your sword here?"

"That belonged to the eccentric one," Erza said, obviously referring to Ivan, "I found it quite impressive…"

"...Indeed…" Makarov commented, looking over the blade carefully. At this point, Elfman finally seemed to rouse himself.

"I misunderstood!" Elfman was now talking to just the one with the hammer-where did his friends go? Elfman was on one knee, bringing himself down closer to his level of height; even then he still had about a foot on him. "You were only here for a tour! I give you my manliest apologies!"

As though programmed to do so, the traveler extended his hand. Too late for anyone to warn him, he found his hand crushed by Elfman. There was a snapping sound of sorts as the hammer-wielding traveler's knuckles popped under the weight.

"...Accepted…" he practically whimpered, sounding like he was trying not to scream like a little girl.

"Speaking of...tour…" the silver-haired traveler said, looking as though he were deep in thought.

"Pretty good day for it then, everyone's here…" Loke commented.

"Everyone?" A voice got everyone's attention. Everyone turned to see the blade-wielding traveler shaking hands with Wakaba. He looked around, seeming...unsure. "That's not right...I mean, how could you forget about Natsu and Gray?"

"Who?" Wakaba asked, unsure.

There was an uneasy pause from the travelers; even the guild members seemed to pause in confusion.

"...the...Salamander? And the Ice Mage." Ivan summarized, using their most well-known epithets from the manga.

"I've never heard such men's names!" Elfman shouted.

"Wha-?" asked Corey, who was currently wringing his hand, gritting his teeth.

"What are you…" said the one with glasses, his eyes slowly widening with realization.

"I'm afraid you must be mistaken…" The guild master spoke up, his voice showing that he was in no way lying, "No one with names such as those has ever been a member of this guild…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Leo and Elfman-**

Leo:"So we ended up at the Fairy Tail guild…to find out Natsu and Gray had seemed to never exist."

Elfman:"Who are such men you speak of? Are they a man?"

Leo:"But everyone acts the same as how we saw them in the series, when Natsu and Gray were there…is it possible they were taken from this world like we were ours? Does that mean at home no one remembers us?"

Elfman:"Your words are confusing me...please explain yourself."

Leo:"It's hard to believe Ivan's fanboying didn't cause any confused thoughts…"

Elfman:"Why are you ignoring me!? That's not a man!"

_***~*The End*~***_


	8. Travelers' Toll

**Chapter 8: Travelers' Toll**

* * *

><p>"<em>After that whole thing at the guild hall, we wound up staying at Elfman's place-it wasn't like we could stay much of anywhere else anyway. We said that we were travellers and that we found the sword-and hammer. They bought our story. But… in this Fairy Tail, Natsu and Gray don't seem to have ever existed. They...literally aren't even mentioned...What does this all mean?<em>"

The sounds of a pen scribbling along paper filled the room; Corey sitting at a sort of desk with a pen in hand. All over the open pages, were random markings and handwriting that barely qualified as anything other than scratch. Behind him was a bunk bed, on which a human-shaped lump was shifting on the top bunk.

Corey tapped the pen on his forehead, annoyed, "Damn, what does it mean…"

At this point, a hand reached down and snatched Corey's pen, "It means it's past midnight and I'm trying to sleep…"

"I'm not used to sleeping, dammit!" Corey snapped back, "Besides, this is serious…"

"You always say that…" John retorted.

"Well, I think…" Corey grabbed for the pen, John moving his hand, "Two big players-" Again, "Missing from a team-give me back the pen-Is a pretty serious matter-If they never-Existed!"

"You're just being paranoid. Now stop grabbing for the pen!" John said, holding up the pen, "It's time to get some sleep…"

"I'm not done thinking!" Corey retorted, making yet another grab for the pen, John moving it, "What are you, my dad?!"

* * *

><p>"Come on...come on...come on…"<p>

"Ivan, that hurts-"

"Trust me!"

"_**Oh-**_"

"_**Almost there!**_"

"_**You're really not, stop!**_"

_**SLAM-**_"_**What in the name of a man is going on!?**_"

The scene that Elfman was greeted with was considerably better than what he expected. However it still didn't look right. Ivan had both hands on Leo's gauntlet, one leg on the silver-haired boy's chest-was he trying to pull it off?

"I allow you to stay in my dwelling, and you do such disgraceful things!?" Elfman continued onward, clearly still disgusted with what he was seeing, "At least the other two can keep themselves quiet!"

As if on cue, John's head slammed through the wall, accompanied by a loud shout from...who else?

"_**Give me back the god damn pen, John!**_" Corey shouted from the other room, nice and clear.

From his new position, John surveyed the room, before stating, "These are some thin walls…"

"...You were saying…?" Leo asked, turning to Elfman.

Elfman couldn't respond, his eye twitched once. Finding no other words to say about how unmanly the quartet was currently being, he turned and left.

"Seriously, it's not gonna happen," Leo commented, pulling his hand away from Ivan at last.

"But I would look so cool in it!" Ivan protested, his eyes sparkling for the thirteenth time since coming to Fiore. He was probably imagining Leo's gauntlet being used in conjunction with his sword.

"It's not my fault," Leo said, lying back, "I'd gladly give it to you if I could…"

"Right!" John cut in. Leo and Ivan looked at his head with wonder as though they just realized he was still there, "Well, I'll just… leave you two alone…" A few moments later, his head was out of the hole, leaving Ivan and Leo in their room alone.

"Eh, I'm kind of getting..._attached_, to it…" Leo said, looking over to Ivan, entirely deadpan.

"...I'm just gonna go to bed…" Ivan responded, not in the mood to continue the conversation further.

"You do that…" Leo continued to be deadpan, "I'll just sit here in this corner…"

Ivan laid down in his bunk, placing his glasses upon the nightstand.

"Hey...what…" Ivan started, but ultimately decided...whatever he was about to say, wasn't worth saying, "Never mind."

With that, the teen turned in the bed, and sleep soon consumed him, and in time, his teammates would also fall asleep.

* * *

><p>The rest of the night passed by without further incident. Corey was the last of the comrades to go to bed, and it showed mainly from the still-open journal next to his pillow, pages covered in scribbles that barely resembled letters. He'd apparently given up not too long after the little…interruption he had.<p>

Elsewhere in the house, Ivan was in Elfman's living room, looking around, curiously. It seemed like a simple little place for the Strauss family to reside; that much was certain.

"Ivan, you have risen!" Elfman cheered, seemingly coming in from nowhere on Ivan's left.

"Yeah, wanted to get to the guild hall early today…" Ivan elaborated, feeling like Elfman was stating the obvious.

"But of course! Today is the day!" Elfman cheered, only earning Ivan's confusion.

"What?" Ivan asked. What was going to happen today?

"Oh don't play dumb. I made sure to tell you about it!" Elfman said, already walking out of the door. Turning his head slightly back, he yelled, "Don't forget your sword!"

As the manliest man of beastly limbs left, Ivan blinked, standing idly in the living room, now totally lost.

"I…what…" Ivan blubbered, completely unsure of what Elfman had apparently told him about.

* * *

><p>Not too long afterward, the four were walking towards the guild hall. Leo, Ivan, and John looked relatively well-rested. Corey, however, was slumped over slightly, eyes half-open, slightly dragging his feet.<p>

"Ugh…" Corey groaned, rubbing one of his eyes, "Remind me why we were getting up early, Ivan?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Ivan asked, "The guild's amazing…"

"I know, I know, but…" Corey was cut off by John, who pointed out something important.

"What's with…that crowd…" John said—a valid point, considering everyone was outside the guild hall.

"…Eh…?" Corey tiredly asked, still not in the mood for a lot of things. Which wasn't all that different from his normal demeanor anyway.

"No sense in waiting to find out…" Leo said, quickening his pace. The others followed, with a voice commanding the crowd to:

"Take your bets!" This came from a blue cat, flying around picking up money from people as they made said bets. The only other real distinguishing feature other than the cat's small stature, blue fur and white feathered wings was the green backpack he wore.

_**~*~Fairy Tail Mascot: Happy~*~**_

"Hm…?" Corey asked, finally waking up at the sight of Happy taking bets, "What's he…up to…"

"Oi!" Happy called out, looking towards the Souzous, "He's here!"

"Who's he talking about?" questioned John. So far, today was getting stranger and stranger, and the confusion only deepened when Levy walked up to them, seeming to go over notes; several pages of them in fact.

"I'm not sure if this is courageous or stupid…though according to my calculations…" She looked up, seeming to look at the Souzous in general, "You'll die."

Levy walked away, with an even-more-lost Ivan trying to keep up. It seemed like she was addressing the group, but…

"It almost seemed like she was—" Ivan was cut off by the sight of a giant board with tallies. At the top, read a single line that sent chills down his spine.

_Ivan Vs. Erza_

The tallies were all on Erza's side—a very fair point to make. Ivan's eye twitched as he took this in, turning his head.

"Uh…did we miss something?" John questioned, looking around, trying to find Erza.

"Hoo…boy…" Corey was now totally awake from that one, already mentally agreeing with Levy's analysis.

"Well…shit…" Leo whispered, also caught off-guard, his eyes wide as well.

Meanwhile, Erza was sitting the middle of the crowd, sipping on some tea, patiently waiting. Happy took over explaining things.

"Did you forget?" he asked, clearly talking to Ivan now, "After Erza saw you lugging that sword around for a week she wanted to see if you could use it."

"I…I…I…" stuttered Ivan, beads of sweat running down his face.

"She sent Elfman to tell you~" Happy continued, flying away.

"…Wait…" Corey began, realizing something super important. All heads turned to Elfman.

"He didn't tell him…" Leo observed, his gauntlet hand meeting his face.

"It was a manly mistake!" Elfman shouted, and that seemed to excuse him. Corey looked back to where he'd been facing before, and realized something was missing.

"Where did Ivan go…" Corey said, causing all present to start looking around.

* * *

><p>Ivan was frantically pushing through the crowd, hoping he could vanish in the crowd and avoid fighting Erza. His reasoning was simple enough:<p>

"Don't wanna die, don't wanna die, don't wanna die!" he shouted repeatedly to himself.

Suddenly, Ivan found himself lifted off his feet. He looked up, and was horrified to discover a certain flying cat floating him back to Erza.

"Happy!?" Ivan shouted, his voice very high-pitched from fear.

"I've got a lot of money riding on you!" Happy shouted, dropping Ivan back onto solid ground. Ivan landed on his feet.

"He has…faith in me…" Ivan was clearly touched by the sentiment, clenching his hands.

"So make sure to lose!" the cat cheerily shouted, causing Ivan to fall over. Meanwhile, Erza finally stood up, placing her tea cup down.

"This…will not…end well…" Leo pointed out, though given the overwhelming evidence, it was pretty obvious.

"That's my line!" John shouted, having been on the verge of saying it himself.

"Such a magnificent blade…" Erza said, requipping a sword, the blade gleaming in the sunlight, "Please show me a good fight with it."

Ivan pulled the sword out of its sheath on his back—it served the same purpose as the rope that tied Corey's hammer to his back. Only difference was, Ivan recently got it; Corey pretty much made sure to get a rope for his hammer as soon as he could so he didn't have to keep dragging it around everywhere.

"I…I…" Ivan stuttered, but gave a shout, "I will!"

"He's going through with this?!" Corey shouted from the sidelines, sounding concerned.

Ivan charged, swiping his arm like he was going for a slice…but nothing happened.

"I…what…" Ivan paused, confused. It didn't take him long to realize what happened. The sword he so coveted since the first second of seeing it impacted the ground behind him. Erza's sword was extended.

"Disarmed right away," Levy observed, looking down to her notes, and beginning to scribble some more stuff down, "Should have known…"

Ivan scrambled for his sword, picking it up easily enough. A glint of light reached his eye; Erza lifting her blade. Ivan swung his sword upward, but was easily sent flying by a casual slash from Erza.

* * *

><p>The next few minutes were nothing but Erza casually stomping Ivan. Every single time, Ivan's blade would slip in some manner, usually flying right out of his hands after each encounter. Eventually, John called out to Ivan, in an attempt to stop the one-sided asskicking.<p>

"Ivan, I think you should call it quits…" John said to the panting teen in question. Ivan looked over to John, speaking.

"I…" He cut himself off, turning back to Erza, determination in his eyes that wasn't there before his match began shining strong, "Not yet…"

Erza smirked, "I see…"

"He has progressed through manhood!" Elfman shouted.

"What are you talking about?" John asked, looking up to him.

"His sword…" Levy pointed out, as Ivan's glasses gained a glare; the teen suddenly grinning, "It's stopped slipping out of his hand after her strikes!"

Ivan charged at Erza yet again, jumping at her; his sword was tight in his grasp as he began to bear down on her.

_If it's just a little bit…I've definitely gotten…_

Ivan swung downward, his slash blocked by Erza.

_Stronger!_

With a yell, Ivan continued the...incredibly hopeless battle…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>A short while later, Ivan was sitting at the bar, no longer wearing his jacket, covered entirely in band-aids. His teammates were close by, and the guild members were gathered around. Ivan's sword was sheathed beside him.<p>

"I'll give him credit, he lasted longer than I thought he would," John observed.

"1.4 seconds longer than I predicted…" Levy commented, "Good job!" She flashed a thumbs up at Ivan, who only lightly groaned in response.

"He says 'thank you'…" John translated, deadpan.

"...You can understand him?" Corey asked.

"Nay, he says that he will do even better next time!" Erza cut in, offering a translation of her own, to which Ivan gave a sharp grunt of fear, to Erza, this meant only one thing: "I was thinking the same thing! Tomorrow it is!"

Ivan sharply grunted yet again, it sounding more like a muffled scream than anything else.

Leo offered his own translation: "He's saying 'Mmm…'"

"Shouldn't he recover a little more…?" John asked flatly.

"I can't see Erza giving him much leeway there," Mirajane observed, all smiles. Meanwhile, Erza was stretching Ivan's arm, the latter tearing up from fear.

"Well, at least it's not us…" John observed, sighing in relief internally. At this, both Corey and Leo looked up to John, the former horrified, the latter, his eyes wide.

"Yeah…" Leo flatly declared, knocking three times on the wooden table they were at, "Better safe than sorry…"

Corey quickly followed, sighing in relief as his fist made three solid strikes on the table.

"Oh, you're just being paranoid…" John sighed. It truly seemed like, at least, the other three boys wouldn't get the same treatment...for about three seconds.

"I've decided!" Elfman shouted. That got John's attention right quick, and he too, mimicked the gesture of knocking on the nearest wood to ward off being harmed.

"The fight today has inspired me to do the very same as Erza!" Elfman turned to the table where the three remaining members of the future Team Souzou were sitting. He shouted a name.

"Corey!"

The male in question completely locked up, uttering what could only be described as a scream that took the form of the least manly squeak imaginable. His face morphed into a priceless expression of shock and more shock.

"Oh thank you…" John sighed, leaning forward.

"Well, well, looks like Ivan won't be the only one reaching 'manhood' today-" Leo attempted to wisecrack about how he and John, at least, were safe, but...

"John! Leo!" Elfman listed out the rest of their names.

"Dammit…" John groaned, bowing his head. Leo bowed his head too, but said nothing.

"The three of you will be my opponents in a manly battle royale!" Elfman shouted.

"Sounds fun…" Leo mumbled, though it was clear from his posture he wanted nothing to do with this. Corey remained absolutely frozen, but beads of sweat were cascading down his body now. John, meanwhile, thought of an absolutely stellar plan to make his escape from this situation. A plan that would go down in the history books as the greatest way a non-mage ever tried to avoid getting his ass kicked.

"Uh…" John checked his empty wrist, as though there was a watch there, "Oh, look at the time…" John stood up and bolted, "See ya!"

Elfman was far faster-not that it wasn't obvious-and caught John by the leg.

"Nonsense!" he shouted, dragging John outside. John grabbed on the floor, in fear of his life, nails digging into the ground. Leo could only watch. Meanwhile, Corey continued to remain frozen, a puddle forming beneath his chair.

Ivan, on the other hand, was snickering. Erza provided a translation.

"Indeed, I am just as excited as you for this…" she said in response to the statement that Ivan was "saying".

"Is it wrong I'm kind of enjoying this?" Leo asked, still deadpan. With a restrained sigh, he got up, tapping Corey on the shoulder...hard. With his gauntlet hand. "C'mon, let's go. I think John's about to pee himself…"

Corey looked around, as though coming out of a trance. When he saw John being dragged away, he realized what he experienced wasn't a dream. This time, with a sigh of annoyance and fear, he began to follow the train John was leaving for them, followed by Leo.

John summed up his lot in life with two simple words.

"Why me…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"So…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>"So what did you figure out?" Ivan asked of Levy; the crowd had moved back outside the guild hall. Only this time, the situation was slightly different.<p>

"Three on one…" Levy observed, "The outcome should be quite clear."

"Elfman?" Ivan asked.

"Elfman," was Levy's flat response; the winner was clear.

"Let's go!" Happy shouted, raising a paw. Elfman took this as the cue to toss off his shirt.

Across from him, were an apathetic-looking Leo, a scared-looking John, and a trying-desperately-not-to-look-terrified-and-failing-at-it Corey.

"How do I wind up these messes…" Corey whimpered, trembling in place, "I haven't fought, ever, in my life…"

"Look, Corey, you know as well as I do we're gonna die…" John had foregone any attempt to sugarcoat the matter, "So if we are, we may as well go out swinging!"

"You're being melodramatic, John…" Leo deadpanned.

"He's four times our size in muscle mass...combined!" John was clearly exaggerating...but the truth was, it was a fair comparison in terms of strength.

"The bigger they are...the bigger they are!" Leo observed, still entirely flat in vocal tone.

"And the harder we're going to get hit…" Corey sighed, "Let's just get this over with…"

Corey reached for the rope securing his hammer to his back, untying it and throwing it aside. Realizing his hammer wasn't even in his hands after this, he quickly turned and picked it up. Leo, meanwhile, shifted his stance. John then suggested a course of action.

"So...Rock-paper-scissors on who goes first?" John asked, entirely smug.

Precisely one game later, John found himself regretting this decision-John had thrown up rock; Corey and Leo had both put up paper.

"Uh...best two out of three?" John asked. Leo responded by pushing John forward-Corey joining him.

"We'll be right behind you…" Corey responded.

"In the hearse, maybe…" It was John who looked ahead at Elfman, Elfman staring back at him. Elfman gave the most intimidating growl ever heard to mortals.

"Men…"

With a deep breath, John rushed forward. True to Corey's word, Leo followed after John. Corey, meanwhile, dealt with an identity crisis.

_What am I doing what am I doing what am I doing…_ At this point, his left hand-his free hand, came up, punching him straight in the face, restoring him to his senses. Having impacted his reset button, Corey abandoned his personal issues with the crisis at hand, and opted to not look like a total jackass.

"_**Leeroy Jenkins!**_" Sadly, this was the best battle cry Corey had in his head.

Meanwhile, John punched at Elfman-Elfman countered his punch with one of his own. Elfman went in to punish John some more, but John pulled his hand back, holding his wrist, one eye tearing up.

"Dear God, it's like I just punched a wall!" John wailed as he clutched his hand.

On another note, Elfman didn't get to continue the attack, since Leo ducked in under John's arm as the punches impact. Leo went for an uppercut. Elfman merely stepped in, avoiding Leo's attack, uppercutting John in the stomach as he went. At this point, Corey jumped up a rather impressive height (for him), bringing his hammer down, looking about as confident as expected in his attack-confident by pre-mage Corey standards anyway.

Elfman didn't even flinch as he caught the hammer and flipped Corey over, tossing him into the ground.

"Nope...Didn't work…" Corey whimpered, just before flailing on the ground in pain.

Leo managed to recover, leaping at Elfman, gauntlet arm ready to punch. At the same time, John managed to recover, jumping up for an uppercut. Elfman stepped back. Leo kicked off the ground, launching at Elfman, swinging his elbow out. A freshly recovered Corey got to his feet, still with the impeccable look of confidence up, as he executed a sideways swing with a hammer, opposite Leo's attack.

This turned out as well as expected-Elfman grabbed both attacks, slamming them into one another, pulling Corey off-balance and causing Leo to hold the now badly hurt elbow in pain. Both boys grunted-Corey in surprise and Leo in pain.

While both busied themselves with recovering, John tried to blindside Elfman with a punch to the side of his face. This still didn't work-Elfman merely slid his foot so that he'd hit John's leg; this caused him to lose his balance and miss.

"Dammit!" John grumbled, landing on the ground. As the three continued to recover, Elfman decided to give his two cents on the fight so far.

"Your effort has yet to impress the manly side of me!" he said, which was probably a classic Elfman insult.

Corey got to his feet, clearly dazed, holding his hammer awkwardly, his eyes crossed from...mostly pain.

"Give it time…" he quipped. And yes, that was the best line he had thought of.

Leo, meanwhile, attacked instead, kicking off the ground to charge forward. Elfman turned, attempting a punch. John kicked at the back of the large man's knees. This, combined with Leo's shoulder roll under the punch, left Elfman off balance slightly. Leo sprung back into a stand, two fingers on his gauntlet hand extended-a pressure point strike attempt.

Elfman gave a shout, allowing himself to fall, elbow dropping the ground. This created a blast of rubble sending the other three flying. Corey hit the ground, bouncing once. He managed to get the head of his hammer down, sliding to a halt and shakily getting to his feet. John skidded to a stop on the ground, the hands he used bleeding from the effort.

"Well that was...effective…" John observed. Like he "observed" that tree a couple of days back…

"Long way to go huh?" Leo questioned, having not even bothered to stop himself. Elfman casually got to his feet, standing at the center of a crater, cracking his neck.

"Sounds about right…" Corey responded to Leo's question, getting to his feet.

"Just like Erza," Ivan observed from the sidelines, "Doesn't even need to use magic…"

"Outmatched in every way," John said, "But I'm having so much fun…"

"Guess that's why I keep getting up…" Corey grumbled.

"Come on then!" Elfman shouted, beckoning the trio, "come at me!"

John merely grinned and charged, uttering but an ultimatum, "One hit...if I can land one hit, I'll see it as a win!"

Corey readied himself, waiting for John to complete his attack. Leo, meanwhile, rushed past him, eyes furrowed. A few moments later, Corey followed Leo's lead. John jumped up, throwing a punch as he came down, but found himself clotheslined-Elfman swung out a perfect lariat, knocked him down. John was knocked back as a result. Leo sprang forward, following after John's less-than-productive lead, hands out a bit.

Corey, at the same time, swung his hammer down early, using the momentum from the strike to try for a kick. Elfman lifted an arm, blocking the foot. His other hand reached forward, grabbing Leo by the head. John rushed in, shouting a battle cry.

This went well. And by that, I really mean Leo got chucked into the onrushing John, much to the former's displeasure.

"Dammit John!" Leo shouted.

"How is this my fault?!" John yelled back, pushing Leo off and rising to his feet. Leo got to his feet as well.

"Oh, just shut it!" Leo called out, charging at Elfman again while rubbing his now very sore neck. Corey, meanwhile, retrieved his dropped hammer, feeling it was a lifeline for him in this battle.

_Nothing works!_ Corey thought to himself, lifting it up. He then rushed up to Elfman, this time swinging the hammer upwards. This failed, as Elfman moved his head back...and then plunged it forward, sending Corey away yet again.

"It's a massacre!" Happy cheered, his forepaws going up in the air.

"Well of course," Levy stated, "No matter what way you look at it…"

John rushed past Leo, throwing his hands forward to once again be met with Elfman's own. This time, the two got into a test of strength.

"Elfman's ten times stronger than any normal man…" Levy trailed off.

Elfman had quickly pushed John down to a knee. When it looked like John would totally give out, though, John spoke up. Three words.

"Not. Done. Yet!" John began to push back, just barely getting himself off of his knee.

"Maybe...but…" Ivan started, as John took a single step forward, Elfman sliding back a little. "I wouldn't consider any of us normal since we got here…"

Corey stood up again. His eyes were closed, seemingly thinking to himself.

_All this time, I've been overthinking…_ The boy began to grip his hammer tight, his knuckles going white from the force he was gripping it, _It hasn't gotten me anywhere! Instead...instead of knowing...I have...to feel it out. Instincts…_

Corey opened his eyes, taking in the scene before him.

Leo had managed to come up behind John, grabbing onto John's shoulders and jumping forward, feet heading straight towards Elfman's face. Elfman ducked to the side, breaking off contact with John and stumbling, but dodging Leo's attack nonetheless.

"Tch!" Leo grunted, grumbling a swear under his breath, but that didn't matter. John lowered his body under Elfman, and brought his fist up, harder than ever. Elfman's eyes went wide, and he quickly threw his hand out, slamming John away.

"So close-" Ivan started, but the sentence broke off in his mouth as he took a second look. Elfman's face suddenly contorted, and his stomach cratered in as though an attack had actually hit him, but nothing was there that could be seen.

Corey saw his chance.

_Now!_

Corey rushed in, faster than he had performed in this battle, taking another sideways swing with his hammer. Elfman managed to block the hammer shot, but the defense turned out to be a double-edged sword, his arm slamming into the side of his face and sending him skidding on the ground.

Leo had jumped up, seeing the same opening Corey had seen. He was falling down upon Elfman now, his gauntlet arm coming down hard, a war cry echoing from his mouth. Elfman lifted his arms into a cross block but it was no use. The punch bypassed his defense, hitting him in the stomach. Dust flew up from around Elfman from the force of the impact.

The crowd was utterly stunned at what had happened, their eyes wide. Levy looked back and forth between her papers, wondering what she didn't factor in. Ivan, who had been more or less standing close to her the whole time, was grinning.

"Who'd have thought…" he said.

Leo jumped back off of Elfman, exhaling slightly. Corey lowered his hammer, breathing hard. John raised a fist into the air, cheering.

"We did it! We all got our hits in!" John yelled.

Elfman had gotten to his feet quickly enough. He lifted his arm slightly, and a pulse of power came off of it.

"Shit…" Corey panted, utterly unable to come up with anything better to describe the situation at hand.

"You all went all out and managed to land a hit," Elfman said, not sounding the least bit winded after all that. "Now it is my turn!"

"Well...it was great while it lasted…" John sighed. Leo sighed as well, squinting his eyes. Corey closed his eyes, cradling his hammer in his arms and clasping his hands together in prayer.

"Beast Soul~!" Elfman roared an incantation...

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>Everyone had once again returned to the bar, the future Souzous now all sporting matching bandages, next to Ivan.<p>

"You all fared well, but the true manly victor was decided!" Elfman shouted, lifting one arm in victory.

Corey muttered something, but it wasn't even translatable to anyone that could hear him. He was in far too much pain to say anything else, really.

A ways away, Erza and Makarov were discussing matters-more specifically, the brawls from today.

"So, they did okay against you and Elfman...without magic…" Makarov observed, taking in the account Erza had fed him. Erza, however, didn't look entirely convinced of this.

"Yes…" Erza turned slightly, looking to John, remembering the strange event that had occurred towards the end of the royale, "Without magic…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Ivan and Levy-**

Ivan:"Ah yes...back when I couldn't hope to defeat Erza…"

Levy:"You still can't hope to defeat her…"

_Corey looked up as the Shadow Gear mage Jet spoke up, warning the four...well, to not get in their way on their mission._

Ivan:"I know…"

Levy:"Are you crying?"

_Ivan adjusted his glasses as one of the people in the conversation spotted Ivan and his sword, moving away not too long afterward._

Ivan:"No!"

Levy:"No, i'm quite positive you-"

_Corey rubbed his brow, looking as though he were trying not to turn the gesture into a salute in recognition of being acknowledged by the mayor._

Ivan:"NEXT TIME, TEAM SOUZOU'S FIRST MISSION!"

Levy:"It was Shadow Gear's mission…and don't change the subject…"

_Ivan sat on the chair adjacent to the guilty-looking male._

_***~*The End*~***_


	9. Pull Some Weeds?

**Chapter 9: Pull Some Weeds?**

* * *

><p><em>The spars we did became a regular thing. We were stronger than we were back home-not that it wasn't obvious after I, Corey, of all people, managed to cause Elfman to slide a few feet with a strike from a hammer. We were stronger here, and I know we are going to keep right on getting stronger, too. <em>

_I'm not gonna lie, it's been tough hanging around the guild and getting used to things, but I know we'll manage somehow. We have before…_

_Stakes are a lot higher though. Anyway, I've got to go. Till I get back,_

_-Corey_

* * *

><p>"Just don't get in the way. This is official guild business after all…"<p>

Corey looked up, called out of his thoughts as the Shadow Gear mage Jet spoke up, warning the Souzous...well, to not get in their way on their mission. The four of them and the official team were in a carriage enroute to a destination.

"No need to be so harsh, they're here to help out after all…" Levy pointed out.

"Yeah, Jet!" Droy shouted, before going into "doting fanboy" mode, "Oh, you're always right, Levy…"

"How did we end up tagging along, again?" John asked, turning to Ivan, who had taken up his role as the leader of the foursome by this point.

"Makarov thought we should get out some…" Ivan responded flatly.

"You mean away from the beatings…" said John matter-of-factly.

"Speak for yourself, I'm down to 17 cuts per match…" Ivan scoffed proudly.

"And I'm getting…!" Corey started, losing steam as the memory of still being punted around came back to him, "Better…"

"I think I prefer the beatings," Leo cut in, still, still deadpan, "The soreness feels good to work out."

A silence followed, a silence so awkward it was practically a crime.

"I know what I said…" Leo put his hands behind his head, not even sounding the least bit uncomfortable with what he said.

"Right…" Corey stopped giving Leo an awkward glance and turned towards Team Shadow Gear, trying to change the subject, "So what are we supposed to be doing exactly?"

"Apparently there's been problems with a magical plant that we figured Droy could take care of. We'll get more info once we get into town…." Levy summarized.

"I see…" Corey said, getting hung up on the "magical plant" thing.

_Don't make the joke, Corey,_ Corey thought to himself,_ You're not in __**your**__ world anymore; no one would get it._

"Just leave things to me, Levy!" Droy shouted confidently.

"Hey, don't get too cocky, Droy!" Jet said, turning to him, "This'll be a snap to get rid of with my speed!"

"I know more about plants than you do!" Droy countered, kicking off an argument between himself and Jet. As the two Shadow Gear mages argued, John began to speak up.

"Well, Jet's right, we're all here to-" John started.

"But Droy's the expert on plants…" Corey cut in, "We should leave things to him…"

"What, and do nothing?!" John shouted back, not completely into it, yet.

"You idiot, John! I'm only saying he knows more about plants than most of us…" Corey countered.

That got the two of them going. Leo, Ivan, and Levy could only watch as the simultaneous arguments turned into a singular shouting match.

"Were we really like that, Ivan?" Leo asked, turning to the boy in question.

"I don't remember if we were or not…" Ivan responded.

"No, I think we were…" Leo responded. Somehow or other, even they started going on. The explosive arguments rattled the walls of the carriage, and Levy began to shrink just a little, the shouting matches all around her being just a little overwhelming...

* * *

><p>Only two words come to mind to summarize the rest of the trip.<p>

Poor Levy…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>The group had arrived at the city where the mission was to take place. Ivan looked around, taking in the sight of the ghost town-like everyone else was. Ivan's eyes fell on two people, and he began to tune into their conversation.<p>

"Everyone's already moved themselves away from the west side of town...the thing's getting closer…"

Ivan adjusted his glasses as one of the people in the conversation spotted Ivan and his sword, moving away not too long afterward.

"Dammit!" John shouted, drawing Ivan's attention for a couple of moments-John's pants were down to his ankles. "This is the third time since we got here! What the hell!?"

"It's because your pants are too big!" Droy pointed out.

"But.." John looked down, seeming to finally notice his body fat had vanished over the past week. He could only blink.

"And I'm the oblivious one…" Corey said flatly. The drawstring in his sweatpants had been pulled out as far as it could go, enabling them to stay on, but his shirt and hoodie looked extremely baggy.

"Solid Script!" Levy shouted, sweeping her hands in front of her, "Belt…"

The word formed into multiple instances of the word "Belt" that connected together into...well, a belt.

"Here you go…" She handed the belt to John, who began to pull up his pants and put on the belt.

"Uh...thanks…" John was far too focused on his fatless body to care. Leo could only look with a neutral expression on his face, letting out a sigh.

* * *

><p>A short time later, the seven arrived at a building. A man walked out, pretty well-dressed considering the fact the town was a ghost town. He was probably middle-aged; his face was slightly wrinkled beyond his years as well. However, upon seeing the group, he offered a small smile, looking...relieved?<p>

"Yes...you must be from the guild...please come in," He stated, inviting them inside.

Corey could only nod.

"About time…" Corey mumbled, "Wonder what the problem is…"

"Didn't you hear, Corey?" John asked, "It's just some weeds…"

"Looking around, I'm not so sure…" Leo replied, "You seen this city? No one around for blocks…"

All seven were lead to a large room towards the center of the building. A man was standing near the window, just as well-dressed as the first man. Unlike the first man, he had slightly grayed hair, and looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s, even sporting a fully-developed mustache of sorts. Another man sat on a nearby couch, looking to be in his late 30s. He had dark, shaggy hair that was styled into a very messy mullet of sorts. He was also considerably worse dressed than the man in the window. The latter man looked...guilty, to say the least.

The man by the window finally turned to face the seven after some time, walking towards them.

"Ah, hello. I am the mayor of this humble little town…" he said as he shook Levy's hand.

"Yes, we're Team Shadow Gear of Fairy Tail...well, and company…" Levy summarized, effectively introducing the group as well.

"Splendid," The mayor smiled to the others.

"Likewise…" John said.

Corey rubbed his brow, looking as though he were trying not to turn the gesture into a salute in recognition of being acknowledged by the mayor.

"Now, I do encourage you to sit down…" the mayor continued, walking around the room a bit. Everyone began to take a seat, Corey and John went to sit next to the man already on the couch. He moved closer to the corner, avoiding eye contact. Ivan sat on the chair adjacent to the guilty-looking male.

"Now...one month ago, this man, Wallace, planted a certain plant in the forest surrounding the town…" The mayor started, his voice immediately sounding far less pleasant.

Wallace looked down, his eyes covered in shadow, as the mayor went on.

"It has since become...quite a nuisance…" The mayor summed up, frowning in disgust towards Wallace.

"What, so you made a C-Class quest to get rid of a few weeds?" Ivan asked, summing up the conversation Corey and John had just a few seconds ago.

"The request said the plant was of a magical variety...I'm sure it's not as simple as a few weeds…" Levy summed up.

"Then what's the plant…?" John asked.

"Omnes...Viride…" Wallace responded, causing all eyes to turn to him. Droy's eyes became wide with fear.

"You're kidding!" he shouted, clearly one hundred and ten percent concerned.

Wallace looked down towards the floor, clearly ashamed. Droy, meanwhile, stood up.

"Please tell me that's a joke!" Droy said to Wallace.

"No joke," the mayor said, clearly showing a rising fury in his voice, "This man has introduced _**that**_ on the people of this town!"

"Omnes...Viride…?" Corey repeated, still stuck on the name.

"What now?" John questioned.

"Uh...and this means…" Leo finished.

"If Omnes Viride has been active for a month...this is no C-Class quest…" Droy summarized.

All of the other mages and the Souzous halted after Droy made his statement. That was certainly concerning...

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

_**-Our Hosts, Lucy and Elfman-**_

Lucy:"Omnes Viride? Is that dangerous?"

Elfman:"Why was I not invited on this Man-Class quest!?"

_At this point, the man in question stood quickly, walking out of the room as fast as possible._

Lucy:"I...what?"

Elfman:"I'll have to give Levy a piece of my mind!"

_Ivan charged in, his teammates following behind him, Corey pulling out his hammer, Ivan beginning to reach for his sword. _

Lucy:"Right...well I can't wait to see what happens next!"

Elfman:"I'll be waiting like a man for what happens next as well!"

_It didn't take them long to reach a dome of plant life. _

_***~*The End*~***_


	10. Omnes Viride

**Chapter 10: Omnes Viride**

* * *

><p>"Where could you have even gotten your hands on that!?" Droy yelled, interrogating Wallace. Wallace, however, said nothing, continuing to look down on himself.<p>

"Just what is Omnes Viride…" Ivan said, asking the obvious question.

"It's a magical plant...the 'All-Devouring Green'..." Droy explained, "It absorbs the nutrients of all living things around it, growing bigger and bigger, taking in more and more… until nothing is left."

"Why would you plant something like that here!?" Jet grilled Wallace. At this point, the man in question stood quickly, walking out of the room as fast as possible. Ivan watched him leave, a calm expression on his face.

"Good riddance…" the mayor stated, drawing the group's attention back to him, "Now, back to the request-"

"Why did you lie…" Levy interjected.

"Pardon?" The mayor paused.

"You classified this as a C-Class quest. But something like this is surely higher…" Levy protested, pointing out the mayor's lie.

"I-" The mayor started.

"A higher ranked quest would mean he'd have to pay more…" John pointed out.

"And more negative attention would be brought to the town…" Ivan finished the summary of the mayor's risk analysis. It was Droy who spoke up again.

"If Omnes Viride has had a month to grow, you're lucky this town still exists!" he scoffed.

"Jet, could you-" Levy didn't even get to finish.

"On it, Levy!" Jet saluted, speeding out not too long afterward.

"We'll talk about the reward later, for now, people are in danger…" Levy brought her hand to her chin in thought.

Corey, meanwhile, had his eyes closed, the lids twitching. All he could think about right now was a tree...and the plant was of might...The story was similar in theory, but he opted not to pursue it any further than that.

"How are we supposed to stop a plant...when it's big enough to threaten a whole town?" Ivan questioned.

"It should still have a sort of center, where all the nutrients are brought to...I feel like there's a detail about that, but I don't-I can't remember," Droy explained.

"So it's got a weak point?" John summarized.

"Basically, but-" Droy responded, only to be cut off.

"So we have a target," Ivan said, standing up, "Things just got a whole lot simpler…"

"Hey, don't forget you're not mages!" Droy pointed out yet again, "You're only here as onlookers!"

"The quest rank is higher than you expected and I can only assume backup would get here too late...what other choice do you have?" John questioned.

"Not to mention, we are technically here to help," Leo spoke up as he stood up along with the rest of his comrades. Levy saw the determination in their eyes, and sighed.

"No use arguing with them…" She smirked, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>The six remaining members of the unit known as "Team Shadow Gear and Company" began to run through the town. All of them looked worried now.<p>

"Jet should have checked back in by now!" Levy pointed out.

"Do you think that the plant got to him first…?" Corey questioned.

"Not sure that the plant's sentient…" Leo responded.

"When I said the plant absorbs living things' nutrients…" Droy stated. At this point, the group had reached the point where the town became a plant, "I really meant...it seeks them out…"

"It's aggressive…" Corey summarized as the group surveyed what had become of the plant. It wasn't a regular plant anymore, but a massive jungle of moving vines, roots, and trees.

"And probably something you could have said earlier…" John said, turning to Droy.

"R-right…"' he said, looking slightly down.

"Well, even if it's aggressive…" Ivan stepped forward, one lens glared from an unknown light source. "So am I…"

A cry of pain was heard from within the forest. The others immediately took a stance.

"That was him!" John said, being the first to state what was obvious: Jet was somewhere in that forest.

Ivan charged in, his teammates following behind him, Corey pulling out his hammer, Ivan beginning to reach for his sword.

"Are they insane, rushing in like that?!" Droy shouted.

"Not sure insane's the right word…" Leo said, bringing up the rear of the future Team Souzou.

"I can't believe them…" Droy continued, shaking his head lightly.

"Yeah…" Levy grinned, "They'd fit right into Fairy Tail, wouldn't they?!"

The remaining two members of Shadow Gear took off not too far behind Leo.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Ivan was running, vines shooting out toward him. Ivan grabbed the hilt of his sword.<p>

"Alright...for the first time against something other than Erza…" The teen pulled out his sword, spinning around as vines surrounded him, "Eisenmeteor!"

He sliced the vines to shreds as they approaching, keeping his pace.

"Follow Ivan's lead!" Corey shouted.

"Show off…" John grumbled, more to Ivan than Corey.

Vines shot out at Corey, who dodged, slamming his hammer down on a couple as they came, crushing them flat under the swing.

Leo, meanwhile, was pulling off some epic parkour to avoid the plant gone wild, somersaulting over a root to avoid one vine, before leaping straight forward to avoid another attack. Afterward, he grabbed at a vine with his gauntlet hand, beginning to swing about.

Ivan, at the lead of the group, stopped at a clearing in the jungle, skidding to a halt. Another scream of agony sounded, and Ivan looked up. Everyone else caught up, and saw it too. Jet was suspended high in the air, glowing green with his mouth wide open.

"That can't be good…" John observed.

"Thank you, John, I would have never guessed…" Corey responded.

At this point, a dozen or so vines shot down at John and Ivan, the latter readying another slash. Corey began to raise his hammer as well, but didn't get to complete that move before...

"Solid Script: Fire!" Levy shouted, throwing several words made of fire at the vines, intercepting them, both vines and words exploding in flames.

"Careful, getting yourselves trapped as well won't do any good," she warned.

"Not good!" Droy interjected, pointing out Jet's precise situation, "They're absorbing his Magic Power! No doubt this will increase the Omnes Viride faster than anything yet…"

"And now that it's had a taste," Ivan said.

"It will only want more…" John finished, as more vines began to come down.

"Fire!" Levy tossed out more words. However, instead of blowing up the vines, the vines simply caught fire, but the fires soon went away.

"It absorbed the heat…!" Levy observed, eyes widened slightly.

"It can adapt too!?" Leo shouted, looking over to Droy. However, it was Ivan who suggested a course of action.

"We have to get to Jet…" he said through gritted teeth.

John cupped his hands, crouching down, "Need a boost?"

Ivan smirked, taking John's offer and being sent flying up. Levy had to pause.

"That strength...those spars with Elfman did wonders," Levy noted.

Vines swooped down towards Ivan. Ivan sprung up in midair, grabbing one with his hand...and regretted it for a bit, wincing for a few moments as his hand began to glow blue at the contact. He moved up, getting his feet on the vine before jumping off of it.

As Ivan began to go through the nest of vines, cutting and/or jumping off others as he went, Droy made an observation.

"Is this really the same newbie that showed up to tour the guild!?" he said, in response to Ivan's actions.

"Solid Script: Ice Sword!" Levy said, using her magic to create a sword made of ice to John. John caught it easily enough, but fumbled with it for a bit as he made an obvious observation.

"Ah, that's cold!" John grumbled.

Ivan, meanwhile, had managed to reach Jet. Aiming to free him, he swung his sword up, but missed, stopping dead in mid-air, a vine wrapped around his ankle.

"Damn it-" Ivan grunted in surprise.

"Ivan!" Corey gasped.

"I don't think so!" John said, running up the side of a tree before jumping off towards Ivan. More vines tried to converge on Ivan from another direction, but Ivan sliced at them easily enough while upside down. Using his ice sword, John cut Ivan out of his predicament.

"Nice!" Ivan cheered, "Now…"

Ivan put his feet to John's feet, both males grinning, Ivan adjusting his glasses. John pushed hard, sending himself up and Ivan down, spinning with his sword out and cutting nearby vines. With a war cry, John managed to free Jet from the plant.

"Amazing!" Droy cheered, already throwing seeds, "Holder Plants!"

The seeds quickly sprouted into multiple giant leaves, cushioning Ivan's fall as well as John with the drained Jet.

"That was awesome!" John cheered.

"When we were right in the moment," Ivan observed, "I didn't even have to think…" He exhaled.

"All instinct!" John continued.

"Uh, guys…" Corey interrupted their celebration, pointing up with his free hand, "Forgetting...something…?"

The vines above wriggled in the air, the plant clearly far from dead.

"We better keep moving!" Levy reminded the group.

"But we don't even know where the heart of this whole mess is…" Corey stated the apparent problem as he looked around.

"He's right…" John said, gritting his teeth.

"The vines had to come from somewhere, right?" Leo cut in before an argument could erupt, "Couldn't we follow them?"

"I can still sense Jet's Magic Power now that it's flowing through the plant…" Droy stated. Ivan nodded, taking charge of the situation once again.

"Lead the way...we'll cover you…" Ivan said, kicking off a grand adventure...

* * *

><p>As Droy lead the group, Ivan and John cut numerous vines and Corey smashed stuff. Droy freaked out at several hazards along the way-when he wasn't being impressed at Leo's mad Parkour skills-even with a half-dead Jet on his back. However, Levy did most of the heavy lifting, clearly saving the group members' asses at several occasions through the trip.<p>

* * *

><p>It didn't take them long to reach a dome of plant life. In the center of this dome, was a large glowing bulb, from which all plant life came from it.<p>

"That must be the heart…" Corey noted.

"I've used up a lot of Magic Power…" Levy said, panting a bit.

"That doesn't sound reassuring…" Leo sighed, sweating just a little, Jet still on his back.

"Now that we're at the center...and the last of Jet's Magic Power has reached it…" Droy observed, "We're right in the most dangerous part…"

"No question it's gonna be pulling out all the stops now…" Corey observed through gritted teeth.

Vines shifted around the bulb and dome, as the core of the Omnes Viride plant glowed ominously…

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, John and Leo-**

Leo:"You know...tossing me the sword of ice would have made more sense…"

John:"Well..what are you gonna do…"

_Corey started, just before spikes began to shoot out from all around them, _

Leo:"I suppose you're right…"

John:"I was cooler then you would have been anyway…"

_John used his ice sword to cut it in half._

Leo:"Now wait a minute!"

John:"You mad? Well let's just see who did better against Omnes Viride!"

_Those with binoculars or a very keen eye could just make out several distance specks managing to stay on a branch. The plant had grown into a tree._

_***~*The End*~***_


	11. The Core of the Plant

**Chapter 11: The Core of the Plant**

* * *

><p>The group stared upon the core, fully realizing the weight of the situation they were in. However, they all knew what they came here to do. With this in mind, it was Ivan, of the six still able to fight, that rushed forth.<p>

"Better not give it any time, then!" Ivan shouted as he went forth. He didn't make it more than ten steps before the ground at his feet rumbled. It didn't take long before the ground burst up, knocking him over.

"What the-" Corey started, just before spikes began to shoot out from all around them, the Omnes Viride directing its attack for them-"Ack!"

Levy moved to protect her friends within range: "Solid Script: Guard!"

This time, she threw out two large words: "Guard", which morphed into barriers, protecting the group from the spikes. Well, Ivan wasn't around the group. Ivan tried to recover from the fact he was knocked off his feet, and found himself repeatedly cut up by the projectiles surrounding him, his clothes containing a lot of tears in them as he hit the ground once again.

"Ivan!" Leo called out.

"Dammit!" Corey grumbled. Meanwhile, John tried to go to Ivan's aid. However, where the ground had tripped Ivan, something large burst up out of the ground. It was a massive venus flytrap, and it didn't look like it was in the mood to wait for its next meal.

"That can't be good!" Corey called out.

"It's also in our way!" John pointed out, continuing on course. Leo and Corey followed, with Corey raising the most pressing issue at hand.

"I don't know how we're going to get to that heart…" Corey griped, his hammer hand tightening.

"You're the one with a hammer!" John shoutedback. Corey glanced to the weapon in his hand, and an idea occurred to him.

"Alright then…" Corey somehow managed to toss his hammer dramatically and catch it with his other hand. He hunched over, preparing for an attack, "_Why don't I just pound my way in?_"

An awkward silence ensued. Leo acted as though he'd slipped on a banana peel, falling backwards.

"Watch your mouth!" Droy shouted as Jet groaned, "Levy's right here!"

Levy just looked flat-out annoyed, while Ivan groaned from behind the flytrap. Even the flytrap seemed to be annoyed now, a sweatdrop running down one half of its head.

"I'll work on it!" Corey yelled, embarrassed at how bad that oneliner was. John offered some sage advice regarding Corey's career path.

"Don't!" John responded, jumping at the flytrap before Corey could respond.

More vines descended, with Levy quickly throwing more all-purpose words at them, taking out a good deal of them.

"I'll handle the vines-" she said.

"We will!" Droy interjected, throwing more seeds.

"Thanks!" Corey shouted back, jumping up as he had intended to before, bringing down his hammer on the flytrap's head hard enough to visibly crater it. John used his ice sword to cut it in half. However, this did little for Ivan, who hadn't moved since spikes impacted him-a bad thing, considering the grass was growing around him now, enveloping him.

"Ngh, Ivan!" Leo said, aiming to get over there and help Ivan out somehow. However, someone beat him to the punch.

"Come on!" The next thing anyone knew, someone was pulling up Ivan-that someone wielding a machete.

"Whose-" Levy started, confused. However, she quickly recognized him from earlier…

"You're…!" Corey began.

"Don't stand still for even a moment!" Wallace shouted urgently, jumping around with Ivan in tow. His sunken, depressed expression from earlier was replaced with that of a grim determination, and urgency.

"Omnes Viride didn't go after him when we were present…" Droy observed, attempting to do as Wallace advised, "Due to his lack of Magic Power!"

"But why-" Levy started, only to be interrupted by John.

"Why're you helping us? Isn't this all because of-" he said, only to be himself interrupted.

"You think I don't feel bad?" Wallace questioned, "You don't understand…"

Ivan's eyes flickered slightly, but it wasn't yet his turn to act.

"You don't understand the truth about Omnes Viride!" Wallace finished, shouting.

The others began to take Wallace's advice. Vines were smashed, spikes were defended from, and at least one more flytrap met its end. However, suddenly, the ground beneath the group's feet began to shake violently. The ground cracked audibly, and everyone looked down, concerned.

Suddenly, everyone felt as though they were on an elevator, rapidly ascending upward on unstable ground. The ground itself was becoming replaced by stuff that did grow on trees-bark, moss, more bark, and the like.

* * *

><p>From the distance, the few people still in town could see a truly disheartening sight. They knew it was the plant someone had planted. At the very center of it all, held up by a massive tree, was a massive dome.<p>

* * *

><p>"I don't…" Droy started, "How…"<p>

"Is it possible…" Levy panted, clearly tired, "It's been...absorbing our Magic Power...without the direct contact…?"

"You're always within direct contact," Wallace summed up grimly. It was then, something clicked within Levy's mind-the others realizing it not too long afterward.

"The grass…" Levy said, wincing.

"No…" Corey grunted, "Dammit! It was unavoidable."

"Not only that...but I think Levy's nearly exhausted her own supply covering us…" John stated.

"And now," Wallace interjected, "This entire area is Omnes Viride's, what I can only assume, final stage."

"From the looks of it, a tree…" Corey observed, looking around, "...Still, we're about where we need to be…"

Ivan finally stood up, pushing off of Wallace, "You know so much about Omnes Viride...you must have known what would happen…"

Wallace's eyes were now shadowed, that grim look refusing to leave his face.

"And yet, he's here…" Leo said.

"I didn't know the exact diameter that it would grow...all I wanted, was exactly what comes next…" Wallace looked up, addressing the group, "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt! I promise you!"

Ivan raised his head upward, his glasses definitely crooked now after all that had happened so far. Everyone else turned their heads towards the center once more, when the dome itself began to shake around them.

"What now…?" Corey grumbled.

* * *

><p>In the distance, the people watching the out-of-control Omnes Viride could only watch in amazement and terror as the dome began to break apart, snapping apart into multiple branches. Those with binoculars or a very keen eye could just make out several distance specks managing to stay on a branch. The plant had grown into a tree.<p>

* * *

><p>Everyone had barely managed to avoid falling off the plant, everyone close together, separated by maybe a few branches. For the first time in a while, Ivan had been separated from his sword, the blade caught in a branch not too far off from him.<p>

Ivan looked down at Wallace from a higher branch, his eyes calm.

"You planted this here, not knowing it would reach anyone else...because of what comes after this final stage?" he questioned. Wallace said nothing.

"But now, you have to understand...that we're destroying it...before it can us…" Ivan summarized.

"Yes…" Wallace croaked.

"Alright…" Ivan responded, having got his answer. He jumped down, leaping towards his sword, retrieving it with a little bit of effort. Everyone else relocated to different branches behind him, readying for the final assault.

"Everyone ready?" Ivan asked, in total control.

Corey gave a small grunt in agreement.

"As if you have to ask…" John responded.

"Of course," Leo began, "Sooner we're done, the better. The residues are starting to make me itch…"

"Then, let's charge right to the core," Ivan stated the simple solution, "Slash it, punch it, slam into it, whatever it takes…"

Ivan leapt forward, leading the charge. Levy was, for the second time that day, slightly annoyed with a male.

"What do you think you're doing, suddenly making yourself in charge…" Levy complained, looking up towards him.

"Yeah...force of habit…" Ivan smirked.

"Yep, force of habit," Corey affirmed, following Ivan's lead.

"Seeing as you've been covering our asses-" John started, following the two.

"Literally, in your case…" Corey snarked, John ignoring him.

"Maybe it's our turn…" John finished, he and Corey a bit farther ahead now, still a bit behind Ivan.

"You know, Droy?" Leo began, ready to follow, "I think you were right earlier…"

When Droy could only respond with a half-blank look, Leo gave his answer.

"We are insane…" Leo said, his voice betraying just a hint of pride.

With that, Leo began to follow his future team.

Vines began to shoot off of branches, venus flytraps bursting forth, plants preparing to shoot spikes at the group. The vines came forward first, with Ivan slicing them to ribbons with a few quick motions. The Venus flytraps came next, supported by their own vines. John continued past Ivan, slicing them in two with his borrowed sword.

A plant with spikes prepared to swell, ready to shoot. Corey crushed the problem before it could start, moving past the now pulpy remains of what was once a threat. Leo ran down along the bark, smashing into a flytrap's side.

Wallace took this in, smirking just a little, "Just who are you guys…"

Ivan cut another spike plant in half, clearing the path for advancement.

"Just keep moving forward…" Corey started.

"With everything we've got!" Ivan shouted, continuing Corey's line of thought.

An entire branch swung at them, Ivan grabbing his sword with both hands, gritting teeth. He jumped off the next branch, cracking it, veins on his arms now visible through the tears in his shirt. He swing his blade, cleaving the entire branch in two despite its size.

"And let nothing get in our way!" John continued off of where Ivan had left off.

"Whatever it takes!" Leo finished the train of thought, just as Corey leapt up off another branch, bringing his hammer down on another flytrap's head, snapping its head in half, effectively killing it. The path was now completely clear, everyone closing in on the core with a shout.

_**CLLLLLLCK…**_

The bark of the tree exploded at this moment, vines shooting out. All of the group from Fairy Tail were immediately overwhelmed by the sudden counterattack.

Ivan sharply grunted as his body was constricted, his sword covered by the vines. Corey's hammer was caught in a similar manner, his body constricted.

"Shit!" Corey shouted, effectively summing up their situation.

John's arm was free, but useless, the rest of his body unable to move anyway. "We were...so close!"

Leo's eyes were wide as the vines began to overwhelm him too.

_D...dammit! I- _Leo thought to himself.

The vines tightened around him, all that could be seen was his left eye. Suddenly, a faint purple glow began to emit from the small opening. John took notice, confused.

"Huh…?" he grunted, looking directly at Leo.

Leo somehow managed to flashstep out of the vine's grasp, now flying through the air. Corey, Ivan and John were stunned.

"What-" Corey started, confused.

"We still have a chance!" John shouted, managing to get enough leverage to chuck the ice sword to Leo. "Take it!"

Leo caught the blade easily enough in his gauntlet hand, kicking off the nearest branch and charging for the core, making a desperate slash-

The ice sword made impact, but the blade only cracked and shattered. No damage was inflicted to the core at all.

Leo's eyes were wide now, more with fear than anything else, "You...you have got to be kidding me…"

John grit his teeth.

"Dammit…" Corey grunted again.

Ivan's eyes had momentarily widened from the shock. Now, however, his head dropped, glasses falling an uncountable number of feet to the ground.

John silently gritted his teeth, unable to believe what had happened.

"It can't be...here?" Ivan asked, the vines beginning to constrict, going for the kill. "Now?"

"I...I…" Ivan stuttered, oblivion seeming to consume him...

Ivan's hair suddenly began to float up.

"No! Not here!" He lifted his head, eyes glowing bright blue, his hair moving upwards.

"_**Not now!**_" The vines around the Ten Commandments exploded violently into a mass of flames, freeing Ivan in the process.

"D-Did he…?" John grunted, barely able to make out what had just happened.

Ivan swung a mass of flames around, vines burning all around him. His sword eventually doused itself, more or less, revealing its new form-it was now bright orange, and much thinner than before.

"He's using his Magic Power!" Levy screamed over the din, as vines began to shoot forward towards the free Ivan, who made one last charge. Ivan swung his sword, vines exploding on impact.

"Ten Commandments!" Ivan shouted, bringing his arm back for a throw. He only had one shot, "Second Form!"

He made a desperate throw, Leo, seeing what was happening, quickly moved out of the way. Ivan was once again swallowed by the vines. However, his attack had made its mark, the sword stabbing into the core.

"_**Explosion!**_" An explosion went off at that point, sending Leo flying back towards another branch. A light began to come off of the impact point…

* * *

><p>The crowd, which had begun to fear there was no stopping the Omnes Viride, were met with a refreshing and hope-giving sight: a massive explosion of light surging outward from the tree…<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Corey and Ivan-**

Corey: "And that was how Ivan first used his Magic Power…"

_At this point, Team Shadow Gear walked in, bandaged appropriately for their wounds as the Souzous were._

-Ivan shoves Corey out of frame-

Ivan: "I know! Definitely outshone everybody there!"

Corey: "Don't get too far ahead of yourself…"

"_Of course," Wallace said, "These tough kids' old man wouldn't bite it that easily…" Despite his light tone, he looked...sad, even as he messed with his son's hair._

Corey: "This was still before we became full-fledged members of Fairy Tail…"

Ivan: "Well, that's about to change…" -Glasses shine-

"_Omnes Viride intakes all nutrients from the environment, so that it can reach its final form, and after that…"_

Corey: "Anyway, the aftermath of Team Souzou's first mission and what it meant for them, up next!"

"Sorry about the delay!"

"_Quite...though…" Makarov's smile quickly faded, "I'm afraid this can never happen again…"_


	12. The Souzous Sign Up

**Chapter 12: The Souzous Sign Up**

* * *

><p>"Yeah...these will work…" Ivan said, smirking slightly to himself, putting on a new pair of glasses more or less identical to his old ones.<p>

It wasn't long before Team Shadow Gear and Company made their way back to the town, having just finished Omnes Viride thanks to Ivan learning how to use his Magic Power long enough to shift the blade for the first time. Ivan, in need of a new pair of glasses no longer, turned to the mayor, who made his response to Ivan's statement.

"Perfect, it's the least we can do…" The mayor stated pleasantly.

"We just destroyed a plant that posed a threat to the whole continent and that's the least he can do…" John grumbled.

"The important thing is, the weeds were pulled. It just took a lot more effort than usual…" Corey observed.

"A lot, lot more…" Leo said, back to being mostly deadpan.

At this point, Team Shadow Gear walked in, bandaged appropriately for their wounds as the Souzous were.

"So we managed to salvage the library…" Levy began.

"Wonderful!" The mayor interjected, with the petite girl going on as though he hadn't.

"But we won't be doing anymore for free," she finished, waving her finger.

"I completely understand," The mayor nodded, "Are you taking your leave, then?"

"Yeah, we're gonna be heading back to the guild full speed in a minute…" Jet responded.

"Well, I wish you a safe journey home! Now, if you'll excuse me, I must-" The mayor said, attempting to close the discussion.

The sound of a foot tapping cut him off. Levy brought her hand forward, her other hand on her hip.

"Right…" the mayor said, passing an envelope to Levy.

"Good, now we should get going…" Levy said, making her way towards the door.

"Give us a call if you ever have weed issues again, "John started, "Just be sure to be straightforward with us next time…"

Corey nodded, standing up straighter than normal. Ivan put his sword in its sheath. Leo "hmph"ed as he headed to the doorway. Before long, the Fairy Tail wizards, together with their guests, took their leave…

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>Everyone was making their way back through the town. The streets were now more or less full of life again, the fear of Omnes Viride gone. John had his hands behind his head.<p>

"God, I can't get over that quest!" he announced, utterly content.

"Even though we almost died, I agree," Corey said, "It wasn't so bad. Least I know the pain is leading to gain…"

"Yeah," Leo continued the conversation, "I suppose it was a better experience than sparring...even though technically-no, no, never mind…"

"I'm so glad you're okay, dear…" This was a female voice, which got the collective group's attention. They all came to a halt, looking over to see Wallace. It wasn't too much of a stretch to say it was him with his wife and kids, the latter of whom were grappling his legs. The woman was a slight bit on the plump side, with dark curly hair and blue eyes. The kids looked similar to their parents. All four looked equally destitute, poor.

"Of course," Wallace said, "These tough kids' old man wouldn't bad it that easily…" Despite his light tone, he looked...sad, even as he messed with his son's hair.

_What…_ Corey thought to himself.

"Daddy," the daughter cut in, "You said you had a plan, right?"

The wife of the family bit her lip, "Honey-"

"Oh yeah! He said it'll make everything better!" The son shouted with enthusiasm.

Wallace seemed even more downcast now when the little boy said that.

"Come on, let's keep going…" Levy reminded the group. Ivan looked on for a moment longer than the others, his eyes still calm…

* * *

><p>Later on, the group was riding in a carriage on the way home. Droy was thumbing his way through a book he had on him, while Corey sat off to the side slightly, eyes closed, no doubt taking in all of what he saw. Leo was similarly meditating on the floor, or at least, that's what it looked like he was doing.<p>

"So what happens to Wallace now?" John asked, breaking the silence.

"You have to figure," Jet responded, not really answering John's question, "We were rescuing a poor town…"

"Even the mayor had so little money...someone like him...and his family…" Levy said, clearly troubled.

"Oh, here it is," Droy said, seemingly oblivious of the conversation, "Omnes Viride!"

Everyone turned to him, giving him a confused and/or annoyed look.

"Right…" Droy spoke up, "Sorry...but it says here what I had forgotten. This must be the book Wallace learned about it from too… Omnes Viride intakes all nutrients from the environment, so that it can reach its final form, and after that…"

Droy trailed off, squinting at his reference guide. Everyone looked up, anticipating the result.

"It blossoms into some kind of beautiful jewel worth-my lord, that's a lot of zeros!"

Droy's comment on the apparent worth of the jewel caused what Wallace had said to replay in Ivan's head.

"_I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt! I promise! … You think I don't feel bad? You don't understand…_"

It wasn't until he also remembered the words of Wallace's son, though, that he really understood it.

"_Oh yeah! He said it'll make everything better!_"

Ivan's eyes went wide, standing up. The others could only watch in stunned silence as Ivan grabbed the envelope. Next thing anyone knew, the teen had burst out of the carriage in an unnecessarily destructive manner, shocking everyone. Ivan rolled on the ground, bursting into a run back towards the town he had saved.

* * *

><p>It wasn't too long before Ivan reached the town and knocked on the first door he could reach. The person answered. Ivan asked a simple question, but all he got was a negative response.<p>

It seemed like no one knew the answer to his pressing question. However, eventually, he found someone who did know where Wallace lived, and that person pointed the way.

* * *

><p>Ivan knocked on Wallace's door-it wasn't long before he answered. Wallace could only regard the teen with confusion as he rummaged through the envelope and pulled out some of the cash.<p>

"What is this?" Wallace questioned, confused.

"Your cut…" Ivan responded, handing the money he dug out.

Wallace's eyes widened as he looked down towards the money he'd received. His son and daughter ran up from behind him. Ivan turned, having done his duty, taking the envelope and the rest of the money with him.

"Thanks for the help, you tough old man…" Ivan said, walking slowly away, his hands going in his pockets.

Behind him, Wallace broke down, hugging his children with all of his heart…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"So…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>"Can't believe you were able to catch up with us…" John observed. Corey gave a curt nod of agreement, his arms folded.<p>

All seven had made it back to the guild hall, safe and sound. Jet was shooting Ivan a nasty look.

"Can't believe you gave him **our** money…" Jet grumbled, earning him a glare from Levy. Ivan adjusted his glasses as John spoke up towards Jet.

"He was giving him your cut, of course…" John snarked.

"John," Leo flatly said, "We were assistants…"

"Well," Corey spoke with a sigh, "Maybe he'll be able to do something with what he got out of it…"

"Anyway…" Levy spoke up, turning to address the four, "Master wanted to have a talk with you after the mission. Especially now after I told him about how it went…"

"So he wanted to see us before he knew?" Ivan asked.

Levy only smiled and nodded.

The future Team Souzou walked up to the bar, where Makarov sat. He looked up towards them, and began to speak.

"So...Team Shadow Gear told me how useful your assistance your help proved…" Makarov started, taking a small sip from a wine glass he had on him.

"We did what we could to help," John said, with Corey silently nodding once again.

"I sent you on that mission to see if you could be of assistance, to sort of pay back for all the time you've spent here at the guild hall...And you exceeded my expectations," Fairy Tail's Guild Master looked upon them with a smile.

_I'll take it as a compliment,_ Corey thought to himself, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not quite sure you can put a value on what we experienced…" John said.

"Quite...though…" Makarov's smile quickly faded, "I'm afraid this can never happen again…"

Ivan's eyes grew wide at this, and his teammates reacted the same way.

"Your lives were put in danger by members of Fairy Tail, despite you being but simple civilians," the elder continued, closing his eyes, "One should never put another's children in danger...so I ask that you all cease your actions here at the guild hall."

There was a brief pause, but John took over speaking for the group.

"I'm sorry, but I can't agree to that," he said flatly-not usual for him.

Corey tried to interrupt, no doubt trying to put what he just heard into layman's terms, but John kept right on going.

"You're right, we did put ourselves in harm's way to help members of the guild. And maybe I can't speak for everyone else, but it went deeper than that for me. It wasn't just my life that were at risk in that forest, it was the lives of everyone that was on the line…"

"I can't put it in exact words, but the feeling I got from fighting, not for myself, but for others who couldn't fight for themselves. It was the best feeling in the world! To know what I'm putting on the line so that others can continue to live their lives, it's not something I'm going to give up so easily!"

Corey lowered his hand as John spoke, eventually standing to his full height-in those days, a rare sight, "I...I agree with John. I can't let that go."

"You call us simple civilians, but we're not," Ivan continued, "The moment we threw our own personal safety to the side was the moment we became-"

"Family."

The sound of Levy's voice got the four to turn. The entire guild was looking back at them, all smiles.

"And the moment such manly words left each of your mouths, you proved it!" Elfman shouted, to which there was a rustle of agreement, murmurs of approval.

Makarov remained silent for just a little while before bursting out laughing. The four looked back to him.

"Eh?" Leo asked.

"You're a part of our family too, then?" Makarov asked, standing up. "Well, I have no issue with throwing my own children right into danger! Such things are how you prosper, just as you all said!"

Everyone roared in agreement, the four grinning at the approval from the group.

"It may not need to be said, but welcome to Fairy Tail, my children!" Makarov pointed up into the air-index and thumb extended, the other three fingers curled up. On this visual cue, their new guildmates rushed them, Corey and Leo both taking a slight step back in reaction. Ivan stood, frozen, his eyes wide and white. John, meanwhile, actually rushed right into the crowd.

Elfman slapped Corey's back hard, right between the shoulderblades. It was a wonder the act didn't bowl him over.

Erza grabbed Ivan's head, slamming it into her hard metal chestplate with a warm smile.

Cana put a beer into John's hand, the two clanging their glasses together.

Laki, meanwhile, preoccupied herself with handing an...odd, wood sculpture to Leo. Leo wasn't quite sure what exactly it was supposed to be, but given she gave it to him with a smile, he assumed it was something meant to be good.

Ivan, despite the cold, hard steel against his face, was not crying tears of pain. He wrapped his arms around Erza, lifting her off the ground, much to her surprise.

Those tears, as it turned out, were tears of joy.

"_**Yeeeeeeeeeesssssss!**_" Ivan squealed, squeezing Erza.

* * *

><p><em>They were so different back then,<em> Mirajane continued to think to herself. Corey was gasping for air, shooting John a dirty look. Lucy still looked unconvinced that he was okay. Ivan was still going through the papers. Leo still, still, still looked bored. _But look at them now…_

_Team Souzou...They could be on the right track to being Fairy Tail's strongest team…!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Lucy and Mirajane-**

Lucy:"What a heartfelt beginning…"

Mirajane:"Yes, they've come a long way."

Lucy:"Inspiring…"

Mirajane:"Now, would you like to hear about their first mission as a team?"

Lucy:"I'm fine, actually…"

Mirajane:"What about when Corey and John fought to the death in a colosseum?"

Lucy:"Eh!? Well...I think it'd be better to just continue the story…"

Mirajane:"Oh well. Next time, we kick off the Bellus Bird arc!"

Lucy:"Mira! Let me announce that kind of thing!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>And so we end the revisions. Next update's going to be all-new content!<strong>_


	13. Something Simple?

**Chapter 13: Something Simple…?**

* * *

><p>A few days had passed since the time Lucy joined Fairy Tail. All had pretty much been as normal as it got. However, all this was different. Within the past few days, Lucy had made more convenient arrangements for herself in the town where her new guild was situated. To be more specific…<p>

"I still can't believe I got such a steal on this apartment!" Lucy cheered, stopping in front of a building in Magnolia. It was situated in front of a river, facing it, offering an interesting view to its tenants-people like Lucy, for instance. She had with her a grocery bag; looking up, and admiring the place she'd be staying for a good long while.

"Time at the guild has been great so far...but I'm glad I can finally get some peace and privacy…" Lucy said, walking to the door. However, as she reached the door to her home, she realized something very important, something that she felt was needed to do when one owned a dwelling.

"Hmm?" Lucy asked, "Unlocked…funny, sure I locked it before…"

As she passed inside, she soon saw something she didn't expect to see; dropping her bag, she let out an "ehhh?!"

On a chair, sat Corey, his legs together and hands on his knees, looking up a bit to acknowledge her. John was laying on her couch, hands behind his head, Well, one hand. The other raised up in greeting.

"Welcome home!" John called out, waving.

"What are you doing here!?" Lucy called out. John's loose hand quickly moved to point at corey.

"Hey, when I came, he was already here…" John said dryly, as though it absolved breaking in.

"That doesn't make it any better!" Lucy shouted, turning to Corey, "How did you get in here anyway?!"

Corey looked down at this, as his mind took him back to maybe an hour ago, tops...

* * *

><p><em>Corey knew full well what he was here to do, and who he was here to talk to. It seemed like the logical thing to do to just wait for her at her home. He looked up, a hesitant expression on his face.<em>

"_Well, this is where she lives…" He blinked, as his body briefly lit up green-except his eyes, which took a dip into darkness once more. _

"_I'm sure they won't mind, but…" Corey gritted his teeth, raising his right hand to the door, "What are you doing Cor… what are you doing…"_

_He heard the lock click as he touched the door knob._

"_Boolean lockState...equals…"_

* * *

><p>"Go on, Corey, she's waiting…" John said smugly, still leaning back without a care in the world. Corey continued to be hunched forward, looking down, not meeting Lucy's eyes. Lucy was, in fact, waiting, her hands to her hips, hunched forward, tapping her foot.<p>

_I'm cornered!_ Corey thought to himself, _I can't just tell her I can do that kind of stuff on a whim! She'd-!_

The sound of glass breaking in another room got Lucy's attention-and the others' too, but mainly Lucy's.

"What was-!" she started, already running into...the bathroom. As soon as she saw what was moving through that broken window…

"Ehhh?!" was the only reaction she had. There, moving over the broken glass, was Ivan, who looked up and waved to her.

"Oh...hey," Ivan said, as though he hadn't just destroyed something unnecessarily. Lucy huffed, already fuming, stomping her way back into the living room, Ivan following her.

"When did he get here!?" Lucy shouted, as soon as she saw Leo standing in the middle of the room-she swore that he wasn't there before. Leo looked around, looking mildly annoyed at best.

"We probably should have…" Leo started, looking from Souzou to Souzou, "Agreed on...who should have told her…"

"Told me what…" Lucy blinked. To answer her question, Ivan walked past Lucy, taking a seat, withdrawing a sheet of paper that he set down face-up on the table.

It was a job sheet, and each of the members of Team Souzou now looked up to her, smiling.

"We agreed we'd take you on your first job," Ivan summarized. While Ivan did that, John decided to look through the bags that Lucy had earlier dropped.

"Hm, got any chips?" John asked, only to be met with a foot to the face pushing him back.

"Knock it off!" Lucy shouted. For some reason, Corey looked...nervous?

_For a second there, I thought that would have been me…_ Corey thought, looking at John getting up like nothing happened.

"So…" Lucy said, turning back to the job sheet to get a closer look at it, "My first mission! I bet it's…a circus?!"

Lucy looked at the paper, dumbfounded. The job sounded ridiculously simple for Fairy Tail mages to handle. Ivan flashed her a thumbs up with one hand, adjusting his glasses with the other.

Off to the side, a loud crunching sound could be heard: John chowing down on some chips. Corey looked at him, annoyed. John noticed the glare, and held out the bag.

"What, you want one?" John asked.

"Please," Corey responded, turning away, "I've done enough here already…"

"It was Ivan's idea," Leo cut in, trying to get away from Corey and John in case they started fighting about that, "I wanted the one with the wolves…"

"Everyone has to start somewhere, Leo…" Ivan responded.

"Well, what was your guys's first job?" asked Lucy, to be met with total silence. Ivan's glasses gained an unnatural glare as he began to fiddle with them. Leo said nothing. John fell totally silent, one chip midway between the bag and his mouth, and Corey looked away again.

"Anyway," Ivan said, putting his glasses back on, "the circus. We all went there once. They have a whole bunch of rare animals. It's a real treat. The job is just to help them out."

"Help set everything up and help with everything, and then split the 300,000 Jewels."

"300,000 five ways?!" Lucy said, "Just to help out some adorable animals!?"

John gave a small chuckle, shaking his head as he ate another chip. Corey leaned back a bit in his seat, awkwardly shifting about.

"Count me in!" Lucy said, with a wink.

"Great…" Ivan said, turning away. Unbeknownst to Lucy, Ivan's face darkened ominously, his glasses once more glaring as he adjusted them…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>It wasn't too far a run from Magnoila to where they needed to go for the job. Everyone was just outside the circus-no, to be more precise, it was a carnival, several colorful striped tents strewn about the grounds, along with a good few different rides and other attractions. They all looked up towards the sign, which pleasantly informed the people where they were.<p>

_**~*~Renowned Carnival: Canis Carnival~*~**_

"I know this!" Lucy said, reading the sign, "I always wanted to come here as a little girl...though...Dad never let me…"

Corey, hearing this, looked over to her for a second, one brow raised, the other lowered, but before he could say anything about it, Ivan cut in.

"Right...well we better check right in…" Ivan took the first steps forward.

"Can't we look around first?" asked Lucy, sounding...disappointed?

"Afraid not…" Ivan said, adjusting his glasses, "And," he raised a hand, two fingers pointing towards Corey and John, "I don't trust those two around anything expensive until after we get paid…"

"It's not my fault there was a spider on that vase!" John shouted indignantly.

Lucy looked at the Souzous' behavior, not sure what to make of Ivan's rush. All she knew was what this place was and what she'd hoped to be able to do. Nevertheless, she decided to try to put the job first...whatever that job was supposed to be.

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"So…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>True to Ivan's word, the group did not waste time looking around Canis Carnival. The five took the straightest path towards the central, massive circus tent. As the group passed inside, Ivan made a remark.<p>

"It'll be fun seeing everything up close instead of from the stands," Ivan said simply, looking around. Before anyone could say anything to that, however, there was a tremendous rumbling.

"_**Ohhhhhhh!**_" On cue, a tremendous groan escaping his lips, a fat man twirled up to the group, dressed with a tall, black stovepipe hat, a red, high-collar, closed longcoat with golden buttons on it. He also wore black pants and had a comical, black handlebar mustache that jutted out of both sides of his face. He stopped spinning, bringing his hands down in a welcoming manner.

"You must be the lovelies from Fairy Tail~" said the man, lifting one hand upwards towards Ivan.

_**~*~Canis Carnival Main Attraction Beast Tamer: Carny Besto~*~**_

"That's right," Ivan responded, shaking Carny's hand to return the greeting.

With Ivan still in front of Carny and the others looking around inside the tent, one of the people in the tent noticed something, looking forward, her eyes wide.

"Woah!" she shouted. Everyone turned to see what caught her by surprise. There were giant animals roaming around, far larger than any beasts one would see in our world.

One was a three-headed tiger the size of a large house, yellowish-white with black stripes. Another was a four-armed gorilla with burgundy fur and was of equal size to the tiger. Slightly bigger than either of them was a giant rhino, its horn jutting upwards before forking outward in two directions at the bridge of its nose.

"The animals are looking good," Ivan said, still standing next to Carny.

"I'll say," John said, petting one head of the tiger. The tiger put on some sort of "smile" on all three of its head, purring. Each head seemed to have a different pitch to the sound, but it was clearly enjoying the attention.

"They all seem as tame as ever," Corey observed, standing slightly in front of the large gorilla without a care in the world.

"Of course…" Carny said, taking an impressive leap back. All of the animals leapt gracefully over to the spot behind him. The animals landed on their back legs as though they were people, and human and animals began to spin. Each of the performers showed grace and skill as they twirled. Eventually, Carny ended in a pose, arms crossed, flashing the "double V" while leaning back on his knees. Each of the animals did an equally impressive pose; the three-headed tiger posing like an Egyptian, the gorilla taking a weird sort of kung-fu stance, and the rhino posed sort of like a football player.

"We're the carnival's main attraction!" Carny shouted.

Lucy broke out into applause, with each of the Souzous merely grinning. Eventually, though, John broke the silence.

"So now that we're here, what do you need us to do?" John asked.

"Well, first," Carny said, bringing his hand to his chin, "Let's talk business." If one paid attention to the way he was looking, he was smirking at Lucy. At least, until Ivan stepped in front of him.

"Let's talk over there…" Ivan said, pointing...well, over to the place he wanted to discuss business.

"Ah, of course!" Carny said, resting one hand on Ivan's shoulder, both walking away afterward. Leaving them to their business, the remaining Souzous and Lucy began to do some more interacting with the animals. Well, except John. He was focused intently on the dark aura that seemed to be emanating from Ivan and Carny. Lucy, meanwhile, busied herself with shaking a gorilla's finger with her whole hand.

"Such...darkness…" John said, his eyes wide with anticipation. Suddenly, something wet and slick dragged itself up his back. John whirled around, drenched. The tiger's middle head retracted, clearly pleased with itself.

"Gross…" John groaned in displeasure.

"Ha!" Leo laughed, patting the right head of the tiger as its "reward" for drenching John in spit. As everyone had fun, Corey remained impassive, looking around.

_Without a doubt, these are impressive animals, as I'd expect, _Corey thought, _So then...what's our first task?_

"Excellent!" Carny shouted.

"Agreed then," Ivan nodded.

"Yes~" Carny sang, both walking over to the remaining humans in the room.

"We've officially accepted the job," said Ivan, walking over to rejoin his friends.

"It'll be a pleasure to work with you~" Carny continued, once again locking his eyes on Lucy, "All of you…~"

"...Eh?" Lucy asked. Ivan, whose back was to her, adjusted his glasses, which once again gained that unnatural glare to them.

"The hell did they come up with…" John mumbled, though no one paid him any mind.

"So...what's our first task?" Corey asked. It was the first question on his mind.

"Well...to start us off," said Carny, eventually raising but a single finger, "It's our animals' naptime…"

The animals all reacted at once, their eyes going wide. Corey, Leo, John, and Lucy all reacted to their reactions, Corey taking one step back and crouching down. Leo readied his gauntlet hand as though slapping the animals would do something. John took a similar stance to Corey's. Meanwhile, Lucy's eyes just went wide.

What was Ivan's reaction? He merely sat down on the nearest surface, putting his sword out in front of him.

"All of a sudden, their friendliness vanished," Corey noted, auras appearing around each of the animals, "Now...they look like they're going to kill…"

"You've got this one, right guys?" Ivan asked, causing all except Carny to turn towards him, "You just gotta get these guys in their cages…"

There was only one word on everyone else's minds at that point, one that would sum up their reactions quite nicely to Ivan's lack of wanting to be a part of this daunting task quite nicely.

"_**EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!**_"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Ivan and Leo-**

_Leo pulled a cartridge out from his pocket, jamming it into his gauntlet. A magic circle appeared over his gauntlet hand as he prepared to fight._

Ivan: "Well, you should probably get to it…"

Leo: "So we fight off the savage animals...and you sit back?"

_With little more than a single scrape of the ground with its paw, the tiger dashed towards John, teeth bared._

Ivan: "See, your getting it!"

Leo: "Why is that exactly."

_In a flash, Leo had managed to make his way on to the arm, and launched himself over the gorilla._

Ivan: "Pecking order."

Leo: "Pecking order…"

_He stopped sliding back and began to gain control. Then, Corey took one step forward, pushing his opponent back. Then another, and another._

Ivan: "Pecking Order."

_In exactly one second, Corey and John disappeared into a dust cloud, punches and kicks peeking out._


	14. Nap Time!

**Chapter 14: Nap Time!**

* * *

><p>The animals looked to the team, snarling, teeth bared. The mere mention of nap time was apparently enough to upset them. Carny twirled off to one side, smiling. Ivan coughed awkwardly. Corey, meanwhile, made a small observation.<p>

"And suddenly they stopped being friendly…" his face pinched in annoyance as he looked to the now-irate animals.

"Well Lucy," John said, turning slightly to her, "You're the one with a whip…"

"I don't…" Lucy stuttered, backing up.

"Hold on, now!" Carny twirled over to her side, taking one of her hands in both of hi, "We can't...have you getting hurt madam~"

"Oh, thank you!" Lucy sighed in relief, not even minding when Carny twirled away with her in his grasp, taking her right along with her. Ivan could only nod twice, as his teammates each got ready to battle.

"Remember!" Ivan shouted, lifting his right index finger, "Just get them in their cages!"

Leo pulled a cartridge out from his pocket, jamming it into his gauntlet. A magic circle appeared over his gauntlet hand as he prepared to fight. Corey's magic circle appeared under his feet and extended, closely followed by the sphere of his Zone. John's magic circle also appeared under his feet. His shadow darkened, as a black aura began to shroud him.

"Right…" All three said.

At once, John's shadows moved as he turned to face the three-headed tiger. They strung into wires as they went between his fingers, and took the shape of...a giant cat toy. He began to move it, the tiger's six eyes locking on to the toy.

"Here kitty, kitty…" John taunted. The tiger stared at the toy for a moment longer before all three of its heads roared in perfect harmony. With little more than a single scrape of the ground with its paw, the tiger dashed towards John, teeth bared. John, shadows still forming the shape of the cat toy as they trailed behind him, began to run out of the tent.

"I immediately regret this decision!"

"Yah!" Leo shouted, his gauntlet long having changed form into its Purple Flare mode, "Purple Rain!"

A purplish-blue magic circle appears forward. Purple fireballs soared at the gorilla. The large, four-armed animal roared. Two arms beat on its chest as it roared, while the other two swatted the fireballs away. It rushed Leo, raising both of its left arms and throwing them down. Leo jumped up and away, only to be sent flying out of the tent with a third arm he didn't quite catch in time.

Leo quickly recovered in the air, performing a series of flips before landing on his feet safely on the ground outside the tent.

"Huh...packs a punch," Leo mused, just before realizing the gorilla hadn't forgotten about him, ready to throw a flurry of punches with each of its arms.

Corey scoffed. It was just him and the two-horned Rhino now…

"Looks like I'm stuck with the horny one…" Corey quipped, clenching his fists and charging the rhino.

The rhino clearly did not appreciate his quip (same with the audience, who, with no exceptions, were all facepalming). It spewed steam from its nose and returned Corey's charge.

"Just gotta lead him to his cage…" As Corey neared the rhino, his body glowed green as he skidded to a dead stop and broke left. The rhino skidded to a halt as well, and began to give chase, its attention now all on Corey. As it continued to chase him, Corey began to think about his situation.

_Not sure how much punishment these things can take… _Corey thought, his right hand tensing as his knuckles cracked, nearing the edge of his bubble, _But why don't I find out?_

Corey skidded to a halt, shouting out the name of his spell.

"Level Down: Gravity!" Corey's body glowed bright green as his body became lighter. The rhino skidded to a halt as Corey did a backflip, easily making his way over the Rhino's head. "Cancel…! Now…"

His fist glowing, he began to fall at a regular rate towards the rhino, "Script Space: Impact!"

Corey's punch struck the Rhino's back, and a moment later the Rhino's knees buckled under the extra force. However, as Corey landed, he turned, seeing the Rhino quickly rising to its feet, even more pissed.

_Okay, good, no lasting damage…_ Corey thought, his body glowing green-specifically, his feet.

"Level Up: Speed!" Corey said, moving into a blur. The bubble of his Zone began to move with him. All the while, Corey was muttering his survival mantra over and over again.

"Cages, cages, cages…"

John had headed for the same area as well, making a sharp turn around the corner to avoid the three-headed tiger's lunge.

"Are you not entertained!?" John demanded, his shadow toy finally joining with the rest of his magic. The tiger slowly skidded to a halt, before rushing at John again.

"Alright, if you want to play rough," John's arms became shrouded in black mist. They swelled in size, resembling the arms of a sea creature that resides in a fruit under the sea, except made of shadow, "Let's play rough!"

The tiger lunged towards John, who merely stood his ground, latching onto its paws for dear life. John dug his feet in, slowly being pushed back, step by single step.

Leo had managed to weave and dodge between each of his opponent's punches, despite the speed behind them. With a savage roar, the gorilla punched out at Leo again. Leo grunted in response, bracing himself. In a flash, Leo had managed to make his way on to the arm, and launched himself over the gorilla.

"Purple Arm," Leo said, a magic circle appearing over his gauntlet as he punched downward.

Corey had finally reached the cages, and skidded to a halt. Turning, he realized he was in a bad spot; the rhino was seconds from plowing into him. Quickly, he put up his hands and caught the rhino by the horns, grabbing on and beginning to slide backwards.

"Level Up...Strength!" Corey said, his upper body suddenly swelling as his muscles pumped up with new strength. He stopped sliding back and began to gain control. Then, Corey took one step forward, pushing his opponent back. Then another, and another.

"A-amazing," Lucy said, watching all of this happen from the safety of the sidelines, "They're so strong!"

"What were you expecting?" Ivan asked. Corey had gained complete control of his struggle, as had John, while Leo's punch had knocked the gorilla over onto its back. It was just as easy for them as it looked. As Ivan continued to survey the progress of the battle, he began to grin, "We're Fairy Tail mages. A few circus animals are a piece of cake."

Corey's body lit up again, his muscles increasing in size slightly more, "C'mon...time for bed…!"

The glow intensifies as Corey pulled the rhino over to a cage. Then, Corey began to reposition his hands, pulling upward with all of his increased might.

""Now!" John said, spotting an opening. He manuevered underneath the tiger, and began to lift him, "Get in your cage!"

At the exact same time, Leo slammed his hand down. Purple flames formed into a cylinder as they lifted the Gorilla from the ground and into the air. Leo leapt up in pursuit, purple flames engulfing his legs.

"Purple Leg…" Leo said, the flame leg kicking the gorilla towards its cage. The gorilla didn't quite make it, however, landing hard on the ground a few yards from it.

John had thrown the tiger into its cage hard enough to have it land clear on the other side. Quickly, John made his way over to the door, shadow tendrils already moving.

Corey let out a yell as he managed to lift the rhino over his head, and heaved it forward. It landed in the cage on its stomach with a tremendous thud. As Corey's arms contracted down to their regular size, veins popped out. Waving his arms, Corey grunted.

"C'mon, shake it off…" Corey said.

"Hey, stupid!" John yelled, standing next to a closed cage containing one three-headed tiger, "Pay attention to your animal!"

Corey gave off a small "tsk" sound and turned back to the cage. His eyes went wide as he realized he was looking to a charging Rhino. Quickly, Corey closed the cage door, the rhino unable to stop. It bounced off the door harmlessly. Corey let out a sigh of relief.

"That's two…"

There was a tremendous roar. Both Corey and John turned, seeing Leo's gorilla problem still hadn't been dealt with. The gorilla was eyeing them intently. There was no Leo in sight. At least, at first.

"Hey!" Leo called out from inside the cage, "I'm over here!"

The gorilla turned, even more agitated now, seeing Leo. With another howl, the gorilla turned, rushing over at Leo, aiming to do its level best to grind Leo into paste. Its four arms crashed down. However, they found nothing but air. Leo was nowhere near where the gorilla had struck at. He had poofed over to just outside the cage; right next to the door, which he pulled shut with an audible click.

"And three…" Leo observed.

_Didn't even have to use...that._ John thought, standing in front of the tiger's cage. Corey rested his arms at his sides, idling out before the rhino's cage.

Lucy, Ivan and Carny caught up to the others after several seconds.. Ivan pulled his glasses up by the handle on one side, still lightly grinning. Carny was clapping in a "clownly" fashion, grinning from ear to ear. Lucy's eyes were wide, and she looked...a little sad.

"Alright…" Ivan said, taking a few steps forward. However, before he could say anything else, two fists crashed into his cheeks. Corey and John had both just attacked him. Ivan went down in a second, his face swelling, his glasses crooked from the blow.

"What you get for just sending us out!" John shouted in anger.

"Yeah!" Corey agreed. Both then facefaulted, and looked at each other, annoyed.

"Shut it!" Corey said, looking more aggressive all of a sudden, "I'm angry!"

"No," John shouted back, suddenly looking even more pissed at the sound of Corey's voice, "I'm angry!"

In exactly one second, Corey and John disappeared into a dust cloud, punches and kicks peeking out, moving around the various cages. Leo watched them go, tilting his head in annoyance at the spectacle he'd seen about five times already...this week.

"So…" Leo said, trying to put it out of his mind, "Uhh...what else?"

"You all need to keep your pants on~" commented Carny, pulling out some meat and tossing it to the tiger in the cage. Despite the scuffle he'd just had with John, his mood had already shifted. He only seemed moderately annoyed as he sauntered up to the meat, "Always in such a rush…"

As Carny went from cage to cage, he began to feed more and more of the animals.

"You should be done for today. The big show's tomorrow night. You can help us set up then."

Ivan slowly began to rise, his face now comically swollen from the earlier double strike. He tugged his glasses back into place, seemingly undisturbed by the fact his teammates just brutally punched him.

"Good work today, guys…" he said.

Corey and John came to a stop in front of the group. John was on top of Corey with one fist raised. Corey was pushing John back by the chin.

"Oh!" Lucy said, "Can we go see the carnival now!?"

"Oh, of course," Carny said, passing the bag of food to Leo.

Lucy felt her hopes raise right up…

"Not."

Only to be deflated a moment later.

"It's time you tried on outfits for tomorrow!" Carny said with a very...disconcerting...amount of enthusiasm.

"Eh?"

"As per our agreement…" Carny began.

Leo continued to feed more and more of the animals. Corey and John slowly rose from their position, John not helping Corey up as he went. Ivan looked on as Carny explained the situation. And Lucy began to slowly go from confused to freaking out. As Lucy's distress reached a crescendo, Carny pointed one finger at Ivan.

Lucy couldn't take anymore, and both Leo and the rhino's head turned at the sound of a loud thump-Lucy's boot meeting Ivan's chest. Ivan once again found himself back-first on the ground and de-winded. Lucy now stood over the downed Ivan, her cheeks burning, cracking her knuckles.

"So that's the real reason you wanted me on this job!?" she screamed at him.

Ivan lifted one finger shakily, "zzzeee...nn…"

"She's a feisty one," John observed, turning to a very stoic-looking Corey.

"Yeah, that's to be sure," Corey said, already fretting internally himself, _If anyone tells her I did what I did I'll be next…_

"You were…" Ivan groaned, standing up slowly, "The only one for the job…"

"_**Oh, I'm sur-**_" Lucy cut herself off as a thought occurred to her, her eyes going wide. She turned away from Ivan, her hand covering her mouth.

_Although…_ She quickly became lost in her imagination…

* * *

><p><em>This could be the perfect time to put my feminine charm to use…<em>

_An image played in her head. She was now in the center tent, at center stage. Of course, she had to be wearing a rather...revealing outfit. There was no way that wasn't happening. The crowd was going wild, completely ignoring the fact Team Souzou was getting mauled in the background by the giant animals from the carnival._

_She had the perverted Carny subdued, not that he seemed to care. Her whip was in her hand as she cracked it at the air. The image of her being triumphant in front of a large crowd, her charms being put to use, was simply too much for her to pass up._

* * *

><p>Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. She turned around to face Ivan and Carny, who now stood less than a few feet from one another.<p>

"I'll do it," she bluntly announced.

Ivan and Carny high-fived. Then, with their opposite hands, they both ran forward, grabbing Lucy and beginning to run off with her, leaving behind a visible dust cloud.

"Wait…" John said, "Ivan, get back here!" With that, John took off running.

"Where are you going?!" Corey shouted in confusion and annoyance, running after John.

Leo looked over to the others. He still clutched a half-full bag of food in one hand as he looked over to where the others were running.

"Well then…" Leo said flatly, looking around, wondering what to do, "I'll just...uh…here!"

Leo promptly threw the rest of the bag through the bars of the cage, taking off after everyone else.

"It's...perfect!"

It had been a good two hours they'd spent in that tent, more or less. Lucy was trying on outfit after outfit. But one she had on really caught Carny's fancy, to the point he was on his hands and knees, grinning. Ivan leaned against the wall, his glasses glaring as he adjusted them. Leo was right next to him, looking the other way.

Next to them, a little ways away, was John, eyes half-closed and a small smirk on his face. And not five yards from him was a gawking, wide-eyed, crimson-faced Corey.

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>Night had descended on the carnival grounds. Team Souzou, plus Lucy, had spent the night over there. Their assistance was still needed, after all. Yet, as they lounged about on the grounds, waiting for the next night, all was not well. Less than a mile away, a group of four mages were walking over a hill. On the other side, the carnival's lights could be seen shooting straight up into the night sky, obscuring the view of the stars.<p>

"So, the bird's there somewhere…" said one of the mages, his voice masculine in nature. He had long blond hair, that was mostly spiked straight behind his head, save for two large bangs that framed his face on each side. He wore fancy clothes, and a cape that seemed to billow in the wind. Minor problem was, there was no wind. In general, the man was deviously handsome.

_**~*~Phantom Lord Mage: Ramsey~*~**_

"Speak for yourself," another voice barked, sounding extremely cross, "_**he**_ wanted Hound along!" This mage, by comparison, was shorter than the first. His hair was long, dark, and shaggy, the bangs of his hair covering most of his face, aside from his eyes. His clothing looked like they had been handed down for generations, a pair of jeans with very obvious patches in several places all over the place, same with his sleeveless shirt, which was shredded beyond belief. He was also completely barefoot.

_**~*~Phantom Lord Mage: Hound~*~**_

"That's just because of your magic," Ramsey sneered, "'Fido'..."

"Would you boys stop arguing," the one female of the group whined, reaching up for the sides of her head, "It's hurting my delicate ears…"

She was a mage as well, of average height. Her hair was short, pink, and messy. Her violet-blue eyes were half-closed in irritation. Her outfit was very flashy, accentuating her…"feminine qualities," as well as exposing the mark of Phantom Lord on her left thigh. This outfit was white and purple.

_**~*~Phantom Lord Mage: Lanna~*~**_

"Hound doesn't have to listen to you!" Hound shouted back. Lanna looked ahead to the fourth mage, who was also a male, and tall.

"Your 'owner' agrees with me," Lanna said, as though she knew the answer, "Don't you hun?"

All three heads turned to him now. He wasn't facing them, his body obscured by shadow from the lights in the carnival.

"Ramsey…" said the fourth mage, the tone of his voice sending the other three into silence.

"Yeah?" Ramsey asked back.

"You said Fairy Tail got involved, right?"

"Yeah," He nodded, taking a step towards the fourth man, "They sent in that team we've been hearing about so much."

"Those Team Souzou boys…" Lanna said, "Hope they're cute…"

"Well," the fourth man said, grinning slightly as he continued on, "You might see one familiar-looking face. After all…"

His blonde hair drifted about in the wind as he turned slightly towards his fellow mages, his exposed arm bearing the mark of Phantom Lord. His clothing was all dark, and his eyes were a piercing blue color. But his face was indeed familiar. In some aspects, he resembled Corey a bit. Not like that was too surprising.

"I'm expecting a bit of a...reunion," The fourth mage turned again, facing the carnival.

"Reunion?" asked Hound, only to be ignored as he continued to talk.

"Can't wait to catch up with you...Lexicon…"

_**~*~S-Class Phantom Lord Mage: Drew~*~**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Carny Besto and John-  
><strong>

**Carny: "Why do the shady figures always show up at MY carnival…"**

**John: "Looks like things are…"**

_The skirt for her outfit was a bit...too short, even given what it was._

**John: "Heating up…"**

**Carny: "Yes…"**

_The animals were all doing an elaborate dance. For someone that had roughly twenty-four hours to learn the routine, Lucy was keeping pace pretty well. _

**Carny: "How delightful…"**

**John: "Heh…"**

**Carny: "Heh…"**

_All the while, images of the...session, Lucy had had with the various skimpy outfits continued to play in his mind._

**John: "Heh…"**

**Carny: "Heh…"**

_ Quickly, Ivan began to maneuver to a defending stance, blocking each of their attacks._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone. At least there's some updates on this now...<em>**


	15. A Reunion?

**Chapter 15: A Reunion!?**

* * *

><p>It had been a busy, busy day for Team Souzou and Lucy. Customers were already pouring in to the carnival, but the center tent, where they had spent most of the day, was where they were sealed up, getting things ready for the main event. Corey himself was carrying several large crates in his arms as if he was carrying a bag of groceries. When he walked up to Carny, he let them drop with a loud thump, safely on the dirt in front of him.<p>

"There…" Corey sighed, stretching his arms as he looked over to Carny.

"Perfect," Carny said, twirling to face him, "Now we have all the circus peanuts we'll needs~"

"All those boxes are circus peanuts?!" Corey exclaimed, looking to the boxes again, but this time looking as though he were looking at a pail of dirty diapers that just materialized in front of him.

"Of course…" said Carny. John appeared, walking on top of a giant bouncy ball...which was meant for the giant animals.

"You know," John said, still rolling it, "Part of me would believe it if you told me this was a chew toy."

"Hm…" Corey would have considered the mental image of that three-headed tiger fighting over the ball further, but before he could, something warped in from the side. Ivan, Leo, and something under a blanket all appeared a few yards to the right of the others. Carny clapped his hands once.

"Ah!" he said, "The main attraction's main attraction!"

"I question you keeping this in the storage tent…" Ivan said, stepping away from Leo, fiddling with his glasses a bit.

"It's important we keep it safe," Carny said, "It's worth an awful lot after all. Only let it out for its shows…"

"Right," Ivan said.

"What will we do with 'it'," asked Leo.

"Didn't you hear?" Carny turned to Leo, a brow raised slightly, "Don't let it out until the show!"

"I mean…" Leo began, but decided against clarifying himself, opting to let the subject drop, "Never mind."

There was the sound of movement from the private room on the left, the privacy curtain fluttering as Lucy stepped out, adjusting her normal skirt and tanktop, her cheeks lightly pink.

"Ah! Darling!" Carny said, turning to her, "You tried it on, yes?"

"Yeah…" Lucy said, "It fit and everything…"

Ivan tugged on the handle of his glasses once more, a slight glare gliding across his lenses.

Corey looked slightly down, sitting down with his back against the boxes he'd earlier dropped. All the while, images of the...session, Lucy had had with the various skimpy outfits continued to play in his mind.

_Keep it together, Corey, _he scolded himself, managing to keep a normal face, _Keep it together._

"I bet it did," John said, nodding slowly, "I bet it did…"

"Things are right on track for tonight's show!" Carny said, twirling and ending in a pose with both his arms spread out, "I am so excited~"

"Mm-hmm," Ivan nodded, hands going to his sides. _And no damages yet, either…_

Unbeknownst to any of the mages, or the manager, there was a mysterious female listening in from just outside the massive, central tent. Lanna stood, smirking. She nodded her head once, before walking away, getting herself ready for the evening to come…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>The sun had moved through most of its daily arc, slowly but surely sliding down the western horizon, tinting the skies an array of different colors. The carnival-goers were all heading for the central, large tent, aiming to see the special show. Team Souzou had been given a special stand, towards the middle of the carnival-goer, much like a box in a football stadium.<p>

"Our job's almost done, now all that's left is Lucy," Ivan said, moving away from the guard rail at the edge of the stand. Concealed behind some curtains behind them were some refreshments given to them for the show. Well, maybe "given" wasn't the right word…

"Yup," John said, leaning back in his chair, a large clump of pink cotton candy in his right hand, "Looks like this'll go off without a hitch."

_For once, _Ivan thought, shivering at the thought of any of his teammates damaging things.

"You guys are going to jinx it," Leo said dryly, looking over to John.

"We just gotta hope they don't," Corey sighed, shifting about in his seat.

Leo felt his stomach rumble, seeing John taking a clump off of his cotton candy and put it into his mouth. His eyebrow twitched, _Should have eaten earlier…_

John, eyes closed, went to take a bite directly from the candy. He found it shocking, then, when his jaws clamped down on empty air. He looked over, seeing Leo with his cotton candy, mouth open.

"Leo…" John growled, glaring at Leo. Leo paused mid-bite, weighing his options. However, he ultimately handed it back.

"That's better," John said, "Oh, and…" He pointed past Leo to the room where he'd gotten it from, "There's popcorn back there."

"You know we're supposed to help out with those, right...?" Ivan asked.

"We were?" asked John, taking another clump of candy off of his portion.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" shouted Carny, twirling out into center stage as everything went dark, a spotlight shining down upon his final stop, "It's time for the show you've all been waiting for! And tonight, we even have a special guest!"

Corey slowly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. It had been a couple of days since he'd been away from his guildmates, and already he felt the loud noises to be too much.

"Let's give it up for...myself, obviously," Carny slightly moved to the side, and a second spotlight shone down towards the back of the stage, "But also, the lovely...Lucy!"

_Alright, so what's up the carnival's-_ As Corey opened his eyes, they shot wide open. They were trained specifically on the figure coming out-Lucy, in a, -_ssssssssssskimpy outfit!?_

As Corey discovered his own brand of bioluminescence all over again, Carny gave some advice.

"Please, Lucy, take a bow!" he said, doing one of his own. And when Lucy did so as well, though with a little hesitation, quite a few different people caught a sight that perhaps they shouldn't have gotten.

The skirt for her outfit was a bit...too short, even given what it was.

Corey let out a sharp grunt, falling backwards in his seat as blood began to spray from his nose. John's face split into a grin.

"Nice," he commented.

Ivan adjusted his glared glasses once more, while Leo closed his eyes. Then, he slowly opened them, realizing Corey was twitching, continuing to lose blood from his nose. Extending one finger, he jabbed it right into the bridge of Corey's nose. The blood flow stopped, and Corey finally managed to recover, now sporting a very prominent blood moustache.

"Thanks…" Corey said, trying to get up.

"Napkins are over there," John advised, indicating where they were with his thumb.

"And now…" Carny said, finishing up dabbing at his nose with a handkerchief, "Let the show begin!"

It was a lively, energetic performance that definitely managed to turn a few heads-sexy girl at center stage notwithstanding. The animals were all doing an elaborate dance. For someone that had roughly twenty-four hours to learn the routine, Lucy was keeping pace pretty well. Team Souzou were watching the performance, smiling. Ivan looked to the main stands, trying to see the crowd's reaction. They were all cheering.

Ivan blinked. No. Not all. It was hard to notice at first, but in the throng of lively spectators was one single woman who seemed to be _glaring_ towards the center stage with interest. Then, Ivan blinked. Several seats over, was the same woman. Then a few rows down, another of the same…

_What the-? _Ivan thought, noticing what had to be dozens of the same woman in the stands, all glaring at the stage. Ivan glanced back to the stage, concerned. It was hard to make out at first, but Ivan picked up on three spikes shooting down from the shadows of the top of the tent. They each hit one of the animals, who paused on impact. Neither Lucy nor the crowd noticed; Lucy was still dancing.

Then, all hell broke loose, all at once. The tiger suddenly lunged for the crowd. The gorilla lunged for the Souzous, and the rhino began to charge Lucy.

The crowd let out a collective scream of terror; Lucy turned, only now sensing something wasn't right-

_**SHHHIINK!**_

_**BOOOOOMF!**_

_**RANDOM SOUND EFFECT!**_

'Guh…" Ivan grunted, holding back the tiger's paw. One of its nails was cutting into his shoulder, drawing blood.

Corey had managed to bring the hammer down on the rhino's head with his trusty weapon, stopping it in its tracks.

John, meanwhile, had used a Shadow Fist to knock the Gorilla back away from the stands.

Up in the shadows at the top of the tent, a short, slovenly man stood on top of the tightrope. He growled towards the scene below.

"They got in Hound's way…" But before he could even think of performing a headcount and realizing he might have been off by one, something poofed in from behind him. Hound turned, seeing an angry-looking Leo throwing a roundhouse kick his way.

Hound got hit by the kick, falling off the tightrope. At the same time, the tiger pulled away. Ivan flinched, his opposite hand going to his injured shoulder to apply pressure. Hound continued to fall towards the ground of the tent. Suddenly, he halted in midair. As Hound slowly began to float towards the ground, someone else began to fly out from the stand: Ramsey, his cape billowing about behind him as he went.

John leapt forth heroically from the special stands, aiming right for Ramsey with a punch. However, Ramsey flicked his wrist downward at John. John was struck by an invisible force, slamming straight into the dirt floor of the tent.

"I thought you could control _**all**_ the animals, Hound…" Ramsay said, as Hound floated back towards safer ground.

"Hound did! Hound did!" Hound protested as his feet found purchase on solid ground.

It took a good five seconds for Ramsay's statement to fully register, "...oh! Hound gets it!"

"Good for you," Ramsay scoffed, turning his attention to center stage. The rhino had long since backed off, allowing Corey to land on solid ground next to Lucy, whose eyes were wide with fright.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"Looks like a pair of party crashers to me," Corey said, glaring back at the two men.

Ivan removed his bloodied hand from the wound, drawing his sword. John managed to rise to his feet, shaking his head slightly. Ivan took a step forward, adjusting his glasses with his free hand.

"I can't let my eyes off-" Ivan didn't finish his sentence; a female's boot slammed into his back.

"Gotcha, hun!" Lanna's voice reached his ears as he hit the ground facefirst. Ivan looked up, fiddling with his glasses some more. At least he knew who all those women were. Multiple Lannas were jumping down from the stands, all posing in different ways.

Leo teleported again, now on the ground by Corey and Lucy.

"Just who are you?" Leo demanded.

"Couldn't tell you," Corey said, "But they aren't here for the show…"

"Their marks…" Ivan said. Only now did all the eyes of the mages train onto the mages. Ramsay wore it on his clothes, the other two had exposed skin that revealed the mark of Fairy Tail's rival guild.

"You're Phantom…" Ivan slashed Eisenmeteor through the air at this.

"...Lord…" John finished.

"And they're here for…" Ivan continued. However, the sound of a shrill cry broke the tension, only to rebuild it. Ivan's eyes widened behind his glasses and he turned towards the back of the tent.

"That…"

"Keep it down, would you?"

Corey's eyes widened. The tone was a bit different from how he remembered it, but that was one voice he'd never expected to hear again. He turned towards where the voice was slowly, afraid to look, but unable to stop himself.

"My main main attraction!" Carny cried out, rushing the newcomer.

Corey finally stopped turning, and his eyes shrunk to the side of pinpricks at the sight. He looked different now, but there was no doubt about it. The blond hair, the familiar facial features, the blue eyes...and of course the damned voice! Cold sweat beads ran down his face as conflicting emotions boiled in his gut for the first time in a long time.

The newcomer easily smacked the charging Carny aside. As Carny bounced into the stands, he fixed his stare on Corey. Blue eyes met hazel. As they did, Corey noted the guild mark, as well as the icy look in his eyes that he didn't remember being there before.

"Y-you're…?" Corey stuttered, stunned.

"Bastard!" John shouted, several shadow tendrils moving their way towards the newcomer. His eyes fixed on the incoming attack, and a blue pulse came off his body. A moment later, the tendrils vanished as they came close to him.

"What!?" John said.

"Corey, what's wrong!?" Leo said, trying to get Corey's attention, "Get it together!"

"Leo…" Corey blinked, but didn't once remove his eyes from the newcomer, "It's him!"

"It's who?!" John asked.

"It's Drew, dammit!" Corey cried out, his inner conflict evident in his voice, "_That_ Drew!"

Ivan stopped glaring at Lanna. The name triggered something in his brain. And the way Corey said it…

"What-?" Ivan didn't get to complete his thought. Lanna ran up to him, kicking him again. This time, Ivan managed to get the blunt end of his blade up in time to block the attack. Turning, he let out a slash, which missed. He turned his head to the left, and with a brief blink, realized not one, not two, but four Lannas were now rushing him. Quickly, Ivan began to maneuver to a defending stance, blocking each of their attacks.

"But...how…?" Leo let out a groan as he was knocked back by something unseen. Ramsay had one hand raised, being the one behind the sudden force slamming into his chest. This left Corey pretty much alone now; Lucy had moved over to the now-injured Carny.

Drew smirked, dropping the bag, "I was wondering how long it'd take…"

"You know, when I'd heard the name of one of Fairy Tail's newest members a few months back, I wondered if it was really you," Drew walked forward to Corey, "But as rumors spread, and you made yourself known, with that magic of yours...I knew it was. Hello, Corey…"

Corey fumbled with his hammer, nearly dropping it. It **was** the Drew he remembered from home! His younger cousin by one year, one month, the one that had given him advice before...But now, here they were-in the world of Fairy Tail; somehow, Drew had come too. He didn't even really care about the conflicting guildmark on his cousin's shoulder.

"So...it's really…" Corey started, "But...how? When...why?"

_The bag! _Ivan thought, giving his blade a wide, circular swing. All the Lannas attacking him were sent flying by this, which gave Ivan plenty of room to switch to a two-handed grip on his sword.

_Ten Commandments Third Form: Silfarion! _Ivan thought, the form of his sword shifting. Now, instead of being a giant, silver sword, it had narrowed in width and increased in length. Its hilt looked like a cloud curl of sorts, and was a darker shade of blue than the blade. His whole body suddenly light as a feather, Ivan flashstepped right over to Drew with incredible speed, being little more than a blur. Drew's eyes moved, spotting the blur.

Drew swung at Ivan, just as he began moving past him. Ivan, perceiving that Drew had in fact thrown a punch his way, recoiled in surprise, his eyes going wide. Ivan barely had time to move his head out of the way, but even so, Drew's fist just barely brushed past Ivan's head.

Ivan hit the ground, skidding into the bag, managing to get it away from Drew. He blinked in surprise. His weight had returned to normal...

"That…" Ivan started, looking over to his sword. Corey blinked when he saw it. He knew Ivan had gone in with Silfarion, but now…

_His sword changed back to Eisenmeteor!? _Corey thought, _What the hell…_

Drew suddenly moved, appearing over Ivan, throwing a punch down towards Ivan. Ivan leapt back, making sure to grab the bag. Drew's fist slammed into the ground, kicking up dust. Corey lifted his arm, squinting as the dust momentarily shrouded Drew's figure.

_His strength…_ Corey thought, _He's stronger than me...Is this really Drew?_

Ivan stood up a safe distance away, holding on to a now-quivering bag with one hand, Eisenmeteor grasped firmly in the other. A trickle of red began to come from Ivan's temple-where Drew had barely touched him.

_He only grazed me...but he held that much force… _Ivan thought, looking back to his sword for a second, _Not only that...but I completely lost control of the Ten Commandments for that moment…_

"Silfarion!" Ivan cried out, his sword once more assuming that form. Drew turned his head towards Ivan, an icy look in his eyes, completely ignoring Corey now.

"Hand it over, Sword Saint," he demanded, taking one single step forward.

"So I was right," Ivan said, "This is what you're after…"

Drew's eyes narrowed, but he didn't respond.

"The one thing worth taking from this circus...the main attraction: Bellus Bird," Ivan summarized, "You're on a job to retrieve it, right?"

Corey let out a strangled gasp, the grip on his hammer tightening.

"Interguild fighting is strictly against the rules of the Magic Council," Drew advised, spreading his arms slightly, "So hand over the bird for our job...and you can get your reward for helping out in this dumb old circus."

"No can do," Ivan said, "Our job was to make sure everything runs smoothly. That means keeping the main attraction safe," He raised Silfarion above his head slightly, "And stopping any unwanted interruptions…"

Drew turned completely around to face Ivan. Ivan lowered his blade, slowly going into a fighting pose, still holding on to the bird in the sack.

"Now…" Ivan suddenly changed his mind, or something, "See ya!"

Ivan flashstepped over to the tent doors, quickly speeding out with no trouble at all.

"Bastard!" Drew barked, turning to his cronies, "After him!"

"Of course, Mr. Drew!" Hound said, jumping up onto the rhino's head, "Come!"

As Hound and the animals took their leave, Lanna made her move as well.

"Always seems like I'm chasing after a cute boy!" Each and every single Lanna left in an acrobatic fashion.

John and Leo leapt forward, ready to give chase, to repel the unwanted intruders, when Ramsay blasted them back with yet another invisible attack. He flew out, his cape billowing as he did so, grinning all the while. John snarled, and turned to Corey.

"Corey, you deal with him!" John shouted, running out.

Lucy leaned over the injured Carny, but her head was now turned towards the ongoing conflict

"I…" Corey started, his eyebrows twitching, not wanting to have to fight Drew for so many different reasons, yet knowing he definitely would have to, "...Okay…"

"Right…" Leo said, standing up, "I'll go outside too…"

With that, Leo vanished, leaving Corey and Drew at center stage alone. Drew slowly turned his head towards Corey, taking in the whole situation.

"Oh well…" Drew said, "Guess that leaves us to chat…"

He turned to face Corey completely, arms at his sides, his icy eyes once again trained on Corey's unsure ones.

"_**Corey!**_**"**

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Corey and Lucy -  
><strong>

**Corey: "This is unbelievable…"**

_Suddenly, Ivan stopped spazzing out. His eyes grew serious. He grabbed his sword and the bag, and lunged aside. _

**Lucy: "So he's your cousin, from your guys's other world?"**

**Corey: "You know about that?"**

_Ramsey's eye twitched, his hand shooting to his trailing side. When he withdrew his hand, he saw with complete shock that he was bleeding from a small cut in his side. _

**Lucy: "Only in these Specials!"**

_The hit impacted, but the Lanna was a clone, evidenced by it bursting into pink smoke with the word "poof" floating off in cherry red cursive text._

**Corey: "Makes sense…"  
><strong>_**  
><strong>__His arms bulked up, and he met Drew in a physical struggle._


	16. Clash at the Carnival

**Chapter 16: Clash at the Carnival**

* * *

><p>Now far away from the center of the carnival, which was now barren of the life it had swelled with, Ivan sat with his legs crossed, the bag next to him. His sword was laid out in front of him. Ivan had folded his arms over his chest, his eyes half-closed. Though his senses were strained to listen for a pursuer, his subconscious was racing with what had just happened in the central tent.<p>

_I can't go any farther, or else they'll stop chasing…_ he thought, _but at least I got everyone spread out. No way to know how they'd work together, and having six on four might have been risky…_

Ivan looked up, his eyes opening completely. The sky above was a myriad of colors, the sun setting in the western skies. Soon it would be night.

_I don't know what's going on him with him being here too, but… _Drew's image flashed through his mind. He was a lot taller than he'd imagined him being, that was for sure, _And...hope those two followed me…_

The image of Drew faded out, and was replaced with John and Leo both. As the image of the two appeared, something connected in Ivan's head. It was something he should have thought about before…

_Wait, if they all left the tent…! _Ivan jerked to his feet, tugging at his hair with his hands, his eyes wide with terror; the mental images of John and Leo slowly began to get red glowing eyes, _Who knows how much damage they'll do!?_

Suddenly, Ivan stopped spazzing out. His eyes grew serious. He grabbed his sword and the bag, and lunged aside. The tent was slashed away by a massive, powerful claw.

"Hound found you!" shouted Hound, still atop the rhino's head, "Mr. Swordsman couldn't hide from Hound's nose!"

The tiger slowly raised its paw from the ruined tent. The rhino and gorilla, meanwhile, moved into position around Ivan, guided by Hound's magic, no doubt. Noticing that he was surrounded, Ivan gritted his teeth.

"Now, Mr. Drew wants that bird," Hound said, "So hand it to Hound!"

Ivan surveyed the situation, quietly murmuring to himself, "So I traded six on four for four on one…"

The discomforted expression on Ivan's face changed. A grin covering his face, he slashed his sword through the air, entering a fighting stance.

"Perfect…"

* * *

><p>In another part of the circus, Ramsey was floating about, tossing random things aside with telekinesis. Whatever brave souls made up the rest of the crowd were fleeing in the wake of his attacks, but they weren't his intended targets, nor were they his quarry. He sneered, looking about the area.<p>

"Come on out," Ramsey said, "I'll toss aside everything here if I have to…"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, his eyes darted to his left. Several black tendrils of shadow magic were shooting his way.

"Oh?" Ramsey questioned, flying to one side, the tendrils missing him. His head turned as he registered someone was there waiting for him: John, one arm cloaked in Shadow Magic, throwing a punch.

Ramsey turned his head to dodge, and immediately, John was slammed back by an unseen force, courtesy of Ramsey's magic. John quickly recovered by backflipping. He planted his feet on the dirt ground of the carnival, skidding to a halt as his feet left mini-trenches in their wake.

"Damn, can't get close to him," John growled, shaking his head slightly.

"The fact that you think you could is just said," Ramsey said, straightening out, but still hovering an inch from the ground, "No one can land a hit on me," He raised his arms slightly up, as if daring John to attack him.

"No one can even touch me…"

* * *

><p>Leo dashed through the park, having teleported to a random location outside earlier. Now, he was sprinting about, looking for something. It didn't take him too long to find what, or rather, who he was looking for.<p>

Lanna-or rather, Lannas-were waiting for him on a carousel. Each of them were riding a horse, an ensemble that Leo didn't really care for in total. Yet, here was what he was looking for, and so he stopped, watching the Lannas spin around.

"Ah, there you are…" she said. Most of the Lannas hopped off the carousel at this point. One of them stayed on, however, the carousel still spinning. Another Lanna quickly walked over, dragging her clone away as the confrontation continued.

"Expecting me?" Leo asked, looking from Lanna to Lanna.

"Well, you're not a little stick-"

"-Who'd run off-"

"-and hide from us…"

The chain of Lannas surrounded Leo now, each of them bringing one finger to her lip. It was clear what they were going for with Leo, but Leo wasn't really interested in what they were selling.

"So, could you tell us where your friend is?" Or answering that question, for that matter.

"Nah…" Leo said, his eyes half-closed.

"Oh, why do you have to be like that…" said Lanna. Each of the Lannas began to spread out, getting distance from one another as they spread out, each with their eyes on Leo, "Now we have to beat it out of you…"

"And you had such a handsome face, too…"

* * *

><p>Back in the central tent, neither Corey nor Drew had moved. Carny was still out, Lucy still next to him. Her eyes were on the scene before her, though. Even though it hadn't been long since she'd joined the guild, she never thought she'd see Corey so...frazzled.<p>

"Corey…" she whispered.

"Have to say I'm not sure what to say, Corey," Drew said, rubbing at the back of his head a bit, "To think you were really brought here too…"

"I could say the same thing, Drew…" Corey responded, his hammer still drooping at his side, loosely held in one hand, "I just wish I could have figured it out sooner...I never thought I'd see anyone from back home again…"

"Same," Drew said, his arms dropping down at his sides, his head drooping, "Although...I'm shocked, really. We're on opposite sides. We have our own jobs to do."

"I know…" Corey said, "But-"

"Me, a Phantom Lord mage," Drew said, "On a mission to take Bellus Bird…"

"And me, from Fairy Tail…" Corey said, "On a mission to guard it…"

Drew looked up again, and Corey recoiled. All that ice that had been in those eyes was now trained directly on him, a look of pure disgust on his face.

"Which reminds me…" Drew snarled, "I'm shocked you would join a weak guild like that…"

Corey's eyes widened in shock for a second time that day, the conflicting emotions boiling inside of him again.

"What…?" Corey asked, too dumbstruck to offer a real reply.

"You realized it too, when you came here, right?" Drew asked, "What we've become? The physics of this world, the gravity, everything is different. And our bodies, the magical containers within, were already vast enough that we could use magic to a great degree, as soon as we came into an environment with Ethernano!"

Drew shook his head, the ice making its way into a sneer, "How ironic!" He threw his hands up in the arc, shouting towards the roof of the tent, "We, who were born in a world without magic, were born with the greatest potential for it!"

"What is he…" Lucy said, a bead of sweat trailing down one side of her face, not knowing what to make of Drew's statement offhand.

"In exchange for all the years we spent living a lowly, rudimentary life, we were thrown here and given a head start!" Drew continued, still projecting his voice to the tent roof, "And I used that head start and grew more and more powerful, never once losing the momentum!"

Drew lowered his arms slightly, facing Corey again, the sneer once again absent, even more disgust on his face. Corey felt a similar disgust beginning to grow in his own heart, but couldn't bring himself to voice it as he usually would have.

"And yet you...you had the audacity," Drew said, stomping his foot hard enough to leave a noticeable crack in the dirt, swiping his arm through the air, "To join a guild as weak as Fairy Tail!"

Corey's grip on his hammer tightened and loosened several times. He didn't know what he could say straight away. This wasn't like with John or any other situation he'd been in. This was his own cousin, his younger cousin, one of the many people he never expected to see again, and yet here he was now.

"This...this doesn't sound like the Drew I know…" Corey said, his eyes lowering slowly towards the ground, "He wouldn't have let the power go to his head like this…"

"You've made your choice," Drew coldly spat, "And I've made mine…"

"I don't want it to be this way…" Corey said.

"Neither do I," Drew said, "So I'll give you one more chance. Stand aside so I can retrieve the bird from the Sword Saint. Or else...I'll beat you down, and leave for it anyway…"

For the first time since becoming a full-fledged mage, Corey trembled to his core, the icy sting of Drew's words impaling him. The unsureness in his heart refused to be expressed in words. Instead, it was expressed in silent, wordless pain.

"Is this really what it's come to, Drew…?" Corey's voice was absent of any anger. It was filled with a numbed, quiet sorrow at what was to come.

"If you get in my way of completing the job my guild assigned," Drew's expression was completely serious; Corey knew there was no getting through to him now from the tone in his voice, "Then I'll do what I have to. That's all there is to it."

"Sorry…" Corey finally said, a magic circle appearing under his feet, the dome of his Zone soon following. Drew scoffed at this, but didn't say anything more, "But I have my own obligations to...to carry out…"

"Fine," Drew said, slowly getting into a ready stance as Corey finally lifted his head, the last of the tears dripping to the dirt, "Have it your way."

Corey grit his teeth, getting into his own ready stance. Lucy watched, feeling a mix of confusion over what she'd just heard, and concern.

"If I understood any of that," she said sadly, "It's that they're family. Do they really have to fight like this...just 'cause their jobs get in the way of each other…?"

* * *

><p>Ivan leapt back, two of the gorilla's fists crashing down where he just was. Mid-air, he turned, tucking into a ball and rolling away from the tiger's claws, the slash going through thin air. No sooner than when he landed did Ivan turn his head in front of him, catching the sight of the rhino charging him. Ivan immediately dove left, just barely making it out of the way. He rolled into a crouch, now facing a small ride.<p>

Hound was on top of it, shifting his weight back and forth, moving his hands about. But Ivan's attention wasn't on him just yet. He looked to each of his animal opponents, taking in what he had gleaned from fighting the three animals.

_The gorilla's upper left shoulder...the rhino's rear...and the tiger's left ear on its leftmost head, _Ivan carefully observed, looking slowly up to where Hound was, _Those spikes are the key to your Animal Supremacy Magic…_

The rhino scraped the ground once before charging Ivan again. Ivan returned his attention to the rhino, holding onto his sword with both hands.

_I'll have to rip each one out one by one, then…_ As Ivan determined his course of action, his sword shifted into Explosion form. Then, he lowered one foot, and the instant the sole of his shoe hit the ground, he launched himself towards the rhino, meeting its charge with a slash of his sword. The blade had impacted with the split in the rhino's horn when Ivan called out the name of one of his techniques.

"Super Explosion!" On this cue, the sword let off exactly that; a large explosion emanated from the point of impact, sending the rhino flying past Ivan, flipping over and over again. Ivan landed on two feet, crouched low for a moment.

"I didn't fight you guys before," He pushed his glasses up as he turned around, "Because I was afraid I might hurt you…"

The rhino finally landed several yards away, dust shooting up from the impact zone. Ivan was already moving towards it, its rear facing him.

"Guess there's no time to worry about that now," Ivan observed, completing his path to the rhino. He reached out, plucking the spike out. Within moments after leaving the rhino's skin, the spike crumbled, dissolving into smoke.

Hound saw this, his eyes going as wide as dinner plates. The Sword Saint had just broken his link, leaving him short an animal…

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the carnival, Ramsey was floating up in the air a few yards from John. Debris was orbiting Ramsey in a single ring. John watched, initially unsure of how to proceed. There was a very simple reason why.<p>

_I can't touch him myself, _thought John, _But maybe…_

A magic circle appeared under John, several tendrils shooting up towards Ramsey. He merely pointed, and the debris intercepted the tendrils. One extra large chunk bypassed the carnage, heading right for John. John sighted this, and shot out an extra tendril, breaking the chunk in half. The chunk passed around either side of John. His shadow tendrils retracted as well.

"Shadow magic?" Ramsay scoffed, "A cute trick…"

"I've got a million of them," John assured, extending one tightened fist. Several of the tendrils combined into a giant black blob, which shot out into a much larger tendril speeding towards Ramsey. He grit his teeth into another condescending sneer, swiping one arm.

"And I've seen every one in the book!" Ramsey brought his hand forward, shooting out an invisible blob of telekinetic energy. The blast impacted with the tendril, creating a large dent in it and stopping it in its tracks, "I've fought a shadow mage before, and he was a real killer, from a Dark Guild! A little extra versatility doesn't make up for a lack of destructive power!"

John's tendril continued to lose ground as Ramsey's sustained blast continued to plow into it. Suddenly, John's brow twitched along with his extended arm. Ramsey's eyes went wide-the tendril suddenly grew in size, and now both blast and tendril were heading right for him. He quickly flew to one side, hovering as the tendril slowly began to retract towards the pool at John's feet.

"H-how…" Ramsey's eye twitched, his hand shooting to his trailing side. When he withdrew his hand, he saw with complete shock that he was bleeding from a small cut in his side. John's fist had opened, and a black aura covered his hand now.

"To tell you the truth," John said, "I still don't know the peak of my destructive capabilities."

Ramsey's eyes were wide, but the rest of his face changed to an angry glare as he looked to John.

"I hold back when I do battle, trying not to harm any innocent bystanders," John said.

_Emphasis on "trying"..._ Ramsey thought, knowing of the rampant reports of property destruction. Not like he or the rest of his team were saints, but still…

"But now I see there aren't any around. And clearly, you're no pushover. So maybe now…" The black aura spread to surround John's entire body as he pulled his arm back in, "I can cut loose just a little more."

"Did that newbie team…" Ramsey grunted, readying himself for round two, "Really have someone like this?"

* * *

><p>All things considered, Leo found himself in a familiar situation. Girls were throwing themselves at him. However, this time was slightly different. These chicks were all the same, and all of them were trying to beat him to a pulp.<p>

One Lanna did several flips in midair, bringing a foot down. Leo reared back, avoiding the attack. Even though he appeared completely composed, he was still slightly "off" to the whole prospect of fighting a girl. Up until now he'd been trying to avoid the confrontation.

_Really don't want to…_ thought Leo. Just then, he heard the sound of boots clicking on dirt and turned, seeing not one, but two Lannas charging in from his rear to continue the attack. Sighing internally as he turned to face the attackers, Leo figured there was no alternative, _Right, then…_

Leo didn't even react when the two Lannas kicked him the chest, sending him sprawling on his back.

"Oh?" asked one of the new Lannas.

"No teleporting tricks?" the other added.

Leo quickly hopped to his feet, "Well, you hit me first...twice! So...as much as I don't want to, I'll fight back now," His brows furrowed as his face morphed from apathy to seriousness, "So yeah, teleporting tricks…"

Leo suddenly vanished, reappearing behind a Lanna, throwing out a karate chop at her. The hit impacted, but the Lanna was a clone, evidenced by it bursting into pink smoke with the word "poof" floating off in cherry red cursive text.

"Really?" Leo turned, seeing Lanna standing off to one side, "You only fight in self-defense?"

She brought her hand to her lip, wiggling slightly, "You're not the stoic, dangerous man I thought you were…"

Leo realized he was once again surrounded by Lannas, all of them in similar poses, all wiggling about mockingly. He released a sigh and shrugged.

"Well, you're not my type so...eh…" Leo said, looking around. All of the Lannas had frozen, all of their eyes wide and twitching.

"You're dead…" one of them said. Leo quickly began to take in his surroundings once more as more and more Lannas started "poofing" into existence, similar to how the one had faded from it.

As Leo began to ponder if he'd had a legit "Corey moment" or if it was just Lanna's disposition, each and every one of them pointed at him, all glaring daggers.

"_**I'll kill you, pretty boy!**_"

* * *

><p>Back in the central tent, Corey and Drew continued to stare each other down. Though Corey was the older cousin, it didn't seem to matter; Drew was significantly taller despite trailing in years.<p>

Corey, surprisingly, had yet to make the first move. Drew did, his eyes glowing blue. This effect only lasted a second, but within moments, Corey realized there was a small missing patch in his Zone immediately around Drew. He gritted his teeth, confused as to the malfunction.

"What the…" he grunted in surprise.

"Now now, you know me Corey," Drew said, "Well, I should say you're the same way...denying what you don't like."

"Nullification magic…" Lucy mumbled, still watching the fight unfold. Corey said nothing, tightening his grip on his hammer.

_That means he can cancel out my magic, then…_ thought Corey. Finally deciding to get it over with, Corey raised his hammer high and ran at Drew. Drew didn't move, staying in his ready stance until Corey began to swing at him. A downward swing, a diagonal-down-right swing, and a horizontal sweep, all easily evaded as Drew wove around the blows. Drew jumped away a bit, Corey jumping upward and swinging his hammer down, a bright light covering the part pointed at Drew.

Drew grit his teeth slightly, catching the hammer one-handed. The impact spell went off, but its effect was dramatically lessened. Where Corey expected the ground at Drew's feet to completely cave and possibly off-balance him, or at the very least make him regret clinging on to his hammer, the taller mage's feet instead dug only slightly into the ground.

"What…" Corey grunted, finding it impossible to move his hammer; Drew's grip was too tight.

"Nice mallet, Corey," Drew said, looking up to face Corey, lowering his hand so that Corey could just touch the ground with his feet, "But you know how I feel about weapons users…"

Corey grunted; Drew was kicking at him. Corey released his grip, trying to back away. He was just a hair too slow, the leg grazing his stomach. Corey landed several yards away, one hand shooting to his stomach as he coughed.

"Sure enough…" Corey said, "His raw strength...Just like with Ivan earlier...the mere force his attacks have…"

Drew slowly lowered his leg, going back to standing straight up. He tossed the hammer before catching the handle of it.

"Here," Drew said, "You can have it back. I sure as hell don't need it…"

He chucked the hammer at Corey with such force there was no way it was meant to be a friendly hand-off. Corey moved his body to the side as the hammer flew past him. Focusing his Script Space on the wayward weapon, Corey quickly seized control of it and began pulling it back towards him. Corey was already on the move, his arms glowing and his muscles bulging outward.

"Strength up…" Corey said, his muscles growing another size as he reached Drew, swinging out with a punch which Drew caught with one hand. As soon as Corey's hand made contact, Corey watched his muscles contract back down with that arm. Drew released his hand, Corey already throwing another punch. Drew parried this strike easily, and Corey's eyes widened as his other arm lost its added strength.

"Dammit," Corey grunted, "I can't even touch you without losing my changes…?"

"So you're an enchanter…" Drew said, quickly throwing a punch. Corey barely moved his head out of the way, the force behind the punch leaving a very noticable cut on his cheek nonetheless. Corey ducked down, his hammer twirling about. Drew leaned back as the hammer came at him, it missing him.

_Now!_ Corey thought, running at Drew, his legs glowing. He jumped up, aiming to deliver a kick. However, Drew's hand closed around his leg. Corey looked down. Drew grinned, and a moment later, Corey found himself being chucked through the air. He scraped a bit on the ground, but managed to get back to his feet, crouching down a bit. His hammer slowly floated to his side. Holding his ribs with his left hand, Corey snatched his hammer with his right.

"Well, your magic's a bit inconvenient for me, Corey," Drew observed, righting himself into another proper fighting pose, "I have to actually touch you to nullify spells placed on your body…"

* * *

><p>Ivan leapt upward, dodging yet another slash from the tiger. He landed on its moving paw, but didn't remain there for long. He rocketed off the tiger towards the gorilla, Explosion in hand as he slashed it against the thin air. Several orange slashes went out towards his four-armed foe. The attacks made their mark, exploding against the gorilla's face. The gorilla fell back, its eyes now two white "X"s against its face.<p>

As it fell, Ivan landed on its shoulder, right next to Hound's spike. Quickly, he yanked out the spike, it too crumbling into ashes between his fingers. He didn't stay for long, already leaping back off the gorilla as it crashed to the ground, out cold.

"That's two!" Ivan said, landing on solid ground as he did so.

"Mr. Swordsman is strong!" Hound shouted, sounding genuinely impressed, "Mr. Drew did say you were the leader…"

"Eh," Ivan sighed, "right now that doesn't mean much…"

The tiger began to rush at Ivan, now the only animal under Hound's control. Ivan's sword began to glow once again as it changed forms. As his remaining opponent continued to rush at him, Ivan continued right on.

"The others…" Ivan suddenly rushed forward, meeting the tiger's charge. The sword finished morphing to the form of Silfarion, his body now becoming a blur. In a flash, Ivan was behind the tiger, the controller spike between the fingers of his opposite hand.

"Already beat these guys once," Ivan finished. The tiger stopped, looking around in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.

* * *

><p>Ramsey hefted an entire tent into the air with his magic, tossing it at John, who was already moving to dodge. Clenched in one of John's hands was a blade he'd made with his shadows. Skidding to a halt, the tent crashing to the dirt behind him, John tossed the sword at Ramsay with all his might.<p>

Ramsey swung two of his fingers forward, causing a bumper car to get in the way. The sword sliced through it like it were made of butter, and continued right on towards Ramsey. The mage quickly tossed his hand forward, blasting telekinetic energy at it. The sword was finally repelled and sent flying back to John. John stepped quickly to one side and went back to charging at Ramsey, his arms now two globs of shadow.

Gritting his teeth, Ramsey clapped his hands together, commanding two empty stands to soar at John from either side. John quickly took in the new information and jumped up, the stands crashing together. Ramsey had continued to press the attack, but his follow-up blasts also missed; John moved up too fast for him. John finally managed to close the distance at last, throwing out a punch.

"No!" Ramsey clenched his fists, before stretching out his arms and legs in such a way his body formed into a star shape, a telekinetic force shooting out from his body, "I can't be hit! Ever!"

John grit his teeth as his punch made contact with the barrier, but kept right on pushing, yelling.

"Not...until...now!" The telekinetic force keeping him back suddenly buckled and shattered, Ramsey was wide open. John's punch slammed into his stomach.

"_**OOOOOOOOHHHHHWWWWW!**_" Ramsey shouted, holding his stomach, his eyes bulging out of his head, his jaw dropping. He staggered backwards before he finally fell to his knees, his cape still billowing about despite his expression and pain.

"How's that for destructive power?" John taunted, his shadow arm flexing. Ramsey groaned, slowly gettng to his feet, still holding his stomach.

"This...can't be possible…" His eyes had finally stopped bulging out, but they were still wide with anger, "His shadows...overpowered my force!"

* * *

><p>Three Lannas were holding hands, but it wasn't just for show. They were still fighting Leo; one of them swung the two others around like a sort of whip. Leo was distracted with a fourth Lanna, blocking her attack and swatting the arm to the side. He punched through her, causing yet another "Poof!" to come out of the destroyed clone.<p>

Leo turned his head just in time, and leapt out of the way of the swung Lannas.

"Poof!" Another Lanna appeared, holding on to the one at the end. "Poof! Poof!" Two more appeared, extending the whip towards Leo, once again well within his personal space. Quickly, Leo kicked off the ground, getting himself above the whip strike. He grabbed on to the Lanna at the end facing him.

Landing on the ground, Leo began to pull, breaking the whip's formation. Some of the Lannas flew outwards, some slammed into the ground; the ones that hit the ground "poofed" away. The Lanna that Leo held on to made eye contact with him.

"Ooh, so you're gonna manhandle us?~" asked the Lanna, just before a clone poofed into existence on Leo's side and smacked him away.

"Be careful though," said this Lanna. Dozens more Lannas suddenly began to appear as they all joined in to her speech, each "Poofing" into existence one after another.

"We're pretty delicate…~"

Leo sighed, feeling a wave of deja vu wash over him. _Naruto be damned…_

"Well then," Leo said, getting into a stance and retrieving a cartridge from his pouch. He loaded it into his gauntlet with a small "snap", and a light brown magic circle emanated from it.

"Oh?" asked one Lanna, and like before, her speech would be broken up amongst her various clones.

"Just what's-"

"He doin'?"

"He got all serious…"

"Kinda cute when he's serious…"

"You may think that now," Leo said, his gauntlet having finished changing shape again, "But…"

Leo moved at this point, slashing his gauntlet arm sideways. A large cylinder of sand fired up from the ground into one of the Lannas, and arched into another, then another, hitting several at once.

"You won't think so after a while…"

* * *

><p>Ivan pursued Hound, making use of Silfarion to close the distance between himself and the Phantom Lord mage. He flashstepped right up to the ride Hound was on, and charged him. Hound ducked the attempted slash despite how quickly Ivan launched himself at him, but was kicked away by Ivan's follow-up attack. Hound fell to the ground, leaving a small crater in his wake. Ivan perched on the spot he'd just kicked Hound from, looking down at him.<p>

"So," Ivan said, "I'm guessing you don't have any strength? You only use that magic to control animals…"

Hound twitched once before slowly rising to his feet, "Mr. Drew...won't be happy…"

He straightened up to his full height, his teeth grit in frustration, "If Hound doesn't...get that bird…"

Ivan's eyes unconsciously darted to the spot he'd left the bag at, wondering if Hound was just going to try to take it and run. However, Hound said something else.

"Hound will go all out, and make Mr. Drew happy!" He lifted his hands into the air, and a magic circle appeared above his head. A light began to emanate from it as Hound began to change. His frail body buffed up, his finger and toenails lengthening, same with his nose, which became more and more like a snout.

"With Hound's Beast Mimicry Magic…" Hound's voice changed, becoming much more rougher and feral-sounding, "Hound will crush Mr. Swordsman!"

"Oh…" Ivan said, blinking. He used the time this took to flashstep to ground level, now more or less directly in front of Hound. He looked upon the transformed mage, and uttered something that summed up his situation concisely.

"That complicates things a bit…"

* * *

><p>Corey rushed in again, his eyes wide, his hammer at the ready. His hammer glowed with a bright light, his impact spell going strong, Drew leaned back, his magic canceling the effect of Corey's magic as his swing whiffed past Drew's chest. Then, he surged forward, throwing a punch at Corey's chest. Corey's eyes widened; he knew he couldn't get away in time. His torso glowed brightly.<p>

Drew's fist impacted with Corey's chest, the effect of Drew's magic shattered Corey's defense right as his fist made contact. Though the blow was still cushioned, Corey coughed as the wind left him once again, skidding back a few yards on his feet. Corey remained in that position for a moment longer, before his body glowed.

He leapt up even higher, crying out: "Gravity Down!"

Drew watched Corey, one brow raised in condescension. Corey reached the peak of his jump, the ceiling of the tent.

"Gravity restore!" Corey began to fall, hammer raised, the head glowing once more, aiming to attack Drew once again. Drew scoffed at this, merely leaping back a bit. Corey's attack missed, the impact leaving a nice crater in the dirt floor of the tent.

"What…" Corey said, standing up.

"You're just coming at me head-on, no sense of strategy behind it," Drew said, "We're not kids anymore, Corey…"

Corey rushed Drew again, just as Drew said. Corey was trying to block out the lecture with more mindless violence.

Drew sneered as Corey got close, and caught the hammer with one hand, holding onto it tight enough to prevent Corey from getting away easily without letting go.

"This is real…"

Corey quickly released the hammer, moving his arms into place to block a kick from Drew. Even with the defense buff he'd put on himself, he could still feel quite a bit of the force Drew had packed into that kick. Corey shook his arms, trying to get them to feel normal again. Drew dropped Corey's hammer, and was now moving in. Corey, thinking quickly, concentrated. His arms bulked up, and he met Drew in a physical struggle.

Just one problem.

Corey's eye twitched, his muscles contracting down to their pre-buff size.

"Did you really think testing your strength would work," said Drew, beginning to rapidly push Corey back despite his every effort to dig in, "Against me, _Lexicon_?"

Corey's eyes widened. Somehow, Drew _not_ referring to him as "Corey" felt wrong. Almost...disrespectful, in a way. But before Corey could think further, a voice rang out.

"_Open, Gate of the Golden Bull!_"

"_**Ohhhh!**_"

Both Corey and Drew immediately turned to the same direction. There was a giant bull-man thing there now, naked from the waist up, a nose ring in his nose, and wielding a giant axe. Corey knew almost immediately who this was.

"Taurus!" And his summoner, Lucy.

Taurus swung his giant axe down, Corey and Drew both jumping back. Corey's eyes were wide, but he managed to get out of the way, sliding to a halt before turning to where he knew Lucy was. Drew, meanwhile, only seemed mildly surprised if anything.

_Did she just…?_ Corey thought, just before realizing Lucy was no longer near Carny. Then, where…

"This is-" Drew started, just before turning. Corey blinked in surprise when he saw Lucy was at his side, whip at the ready. Her whip slashed forward to a wide-eyed Drew, who did nothing to react. After the strike hit, Drew was left with a very visible red welt on his face, and looked visibly pissed about what had happened.

"Don't forget," Lucy said, gaining a little bit of distance, "I'm a mage of Fairy Tail too!" After completing her statement, she grasped her whip in both hands, coil at one side. With that outfit on, Corey realized she looked sort of like a...dominatrix, rather than a mage of Fairy Tail.

"Lucy's outfit gets me in the moooooooooooooood!" Much to Taurus's approval. And Lucy's displeasure, considering as soon as the words left his mouth, her eyes became two spheres of white, and she gained a mouth full of fangs.

"Focus, you dumb bull!" she shouted, less than amused.

Drew and Corey were both struck silent by this whole display. Corey palmed the lower half of his face slowly, commanding his hammer to return to him with the use of his Script Space.

_Time and place, Corey, _he thought, _Time and place…_

"So," Drew said, his voice neutral, "You can summon spirits...just like **him…"**

That odd inflection caught Corey's attention. Or had he added the inflection himself?

"You have one of those keys too," continued Drew, reaching into his pocket casually. Only then did Corey's eyes widen as the pieces slowly came together in his mind.

_What...what have you been up to since coming here, Drew?_ Corey thought, watching as Drew slowly began to withdraw his hand.

"You can't…" Lucy started, "You mean he really…?"

Taurus only raised an eyebrow as Drew lifted his hand up in the air to show what he had dug from his pocket: a golden key, much like the one Lucy was holding on to now…

"Celestial Spirits...was it…?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*~*Super After Chapter Special!*~*<strong>_

**-Our Hosts, Hound and Lanna -**

**Lanna: "I'll show that idiot whose whose type!"**

**Hound: "Hound has never seen Ms. Lanna like this…"**

**Lanna: "Shut it doggie! I'm not in the mood."**

**Hound: "But I can smell it…"**

**Lanna: "Smell what, you oaf…"**

**Hound: "The love in the air!" **

**Lanna: "SHUT IT!"**


	17. Three-One

**Chapter 17: Three-One**

"That's one of the twelve Gold Keys!" gasped Lucy, gaping at the key Drew was now balancing on his finger with her eyes wide. Corey's eyes were squinted a bit, and Taurus had yet to move, though even he was surprised to hear this, his eyes also focused on the key.

"I got it from a job...well, sort of," Drew continued to balance the key on his finger, "I was supposed to destroy some rich guy's book, and I ended up tearing his house down. He went...a little crazy, and the spirit whatever broke her contract...and I just took the key and left…"

_That's about what would have happened sooner or later, _thought Corey, events of episodes replaying in his head. However, it took two mages to bring down Everlue, and yet, _He did that all on his own!?_

"Please," Lucy pleaded, stepping once towards Drew, "You need to give that key to me!"

"Why should I…" Drew said, deadpan, the key still tilting about on his finger, looking to Lucy.

"A Celestial Spirit can't be brought out into this world without a Celestial Spirit Mage!" Lucy continued to protest, "Please…"

"I don't see any reason to give it to you," Drew coldly said, letting the key fall only to snatch it out of the air, "So, no…"

Lucy's eyes flicked down, clearly unhappy with this answer. Taurus gritted his teeth at this answer, clearly angered, "You dare deny Lucy's booooooooobs!?"

With that, he charged, holding up his axe once more. Drew pocketed the key just before dodging the attempt at an attack with seemingly no effort.

"Eh," Drew said, tightening his right fist hard enough to crack his knuckles, "I've seen better…"

Before Taurus could even declare there was no better, or perhaps even question how, he found one strong punch being slammed into his stomach, hard enough to send him off balance. Drew then turned, kicking Taurus away.

* * *

><p>Ramsey stood straight up, spreading his arms out in front of him. He was clearly enraged, his eyes going bloodshot, his cape now flailing about. John braced himself for what was to come.<p>

"I won't lose to some shadow mage with a little extra power!" Ramsey vowed, as magic circles appeared in front of his hands. The very air in front of him distorted as he began to exert a large amount of his "force". The ground at their feet began to crack, and as soon as the fissures stretched for yards behind John did Ramsey move a second time.

He swiped his hands, the seals merging into one giant one. The air distorted even further as chunks of ground began to shoot up, flying towards John. John raised one of his hands, creating a shadow wall in front of him, against which the projectiles broke harmlessly, saving John...or so he thought.

"HA!" Ramsey shouted, veins appearing on his face. As the chunks continued to break and bounce off of John's wall, John failed to notice the ground at his feet beginning to crack. Just when his eye finally went to the ground did he realize what was happening, but by then, the ground had already wiggled right out of place, jerking out from under John's feet. Completely off-balance, falling into the new hole in the ground, John wasn't in a position where he could defend.

Ramsey's hands went above his head, before he waved them downwards again, the chunk of ground coming down right on top of John, smashing him under the rock.

Several beads of sweat ran down Ramsey's face, his cape back to billowing as his spell finally died down. A grin split his face. There was no way that he could have gotten out of that…

* * *

><p>Ivan's sword was still in its third form, Silfarion. He wove and dodged, easily evading the transformed Hound's claw attacks. Ivan took in the new opponent with a sense of caution and ease.<p>

"You're pretty fast," Ivan said, coming into view as he finished yet another flashstep, "Although…"

As Hound tried to attack again, Ivan moved, dashing past Hound. As he moved, he attacked, evidenced by the multiple cuts Hound suddenly gained out of nowhere, each new wound spraying blood.

"I don't believe I'd even need Silfarion to keep up-" Ivan landed and turned back to face Hound. However, no sooner than when he finished his sentence, he immediately found himself flying back through several things-tents, tables, and even a refreshment stand. Ivan stood up, eyes wide at what had just occurred. Hound was already rushing at him again, having pursued him intently after sending him flying back.

"Hound won't fall so easy!" he declared, running towards Ivan on all fours. Ivan got into a ready stance, holding on to Silfarion with both hands.

"Alright," Ivan said, "Let's see who the big dog is, then…"

* * *

><p>With a cartridge firmly inserted into his gauntlet, Leo quickly began to take the upper hand in the fight.<p>

"I just hate sand-" Just ask that Lanna, who had sand slammed through her chest and was forced to vanish.

"It gets _**everywhere**_-" Or that one, who took a sand blast to the torso hard enough to cause her to poof away too.

Leo threw his arm upwards, sand spikes beginning to rise from the ground, impaling several Lannas all around him. Slowly lowering his gauntlet hand, Leo looked around. There was a lack of Lanna, at least, for the first few seconds. Then, as several more began to poof into existence around him once again, a Lanna began to speak; Leo wondered if that was the real one talking to him.

"I liked it better when you used your hands," she said, "Oh well…" The Lanna that was speaking put her hands into the air, "Super Powered Formation…"

Each of the Lannas surrounding Leo began to move towards the one that was speaking, acrobatically leaping from place to place before stacking on top of each other. No, they were rearranging as they came together, Leo realized as he awaited her next move.

"Lanna Attack Ball!" Lanna-or rather, all Lannas-shouted. The ball hopped up once, before beginning to roll at Leo. His eyes widened as the ball rapidly made its way towards him. Quickly, he arched his arms, kneeling to the ground. A magic seal opened up underneath his feet, and sand began to shift into place around him. Even after it finished forming a dome, the sand continued to quiver around.

The ball of Lannas hit the dome. Its shape slightly altered, but that was because of Leo's machinations. The dome acted as a ramp for the Lanna ball, sending it into the air.

"Perfect!~" said the Lannas in unison. Leo's sand shield faded down to grains as he turned. The Lannas were spreading out now, each doing acrobatic moves.

"Super Powered Formation!" Lanna called out, each of them lifting one leg as they started to come down at Leo, "Lanna Bullet Rain!"

Leo grunted in surprise, and quickly began to run away from the attacks, weaving and leaping out of the way as the Lannas fell at him. However, the attacks kept right on coming, and each Lanna that hit the ground sent a new cloud of dust up from the point of impact, each leaving a crater. Leo didn't dodge the aftershock of a few simultaneous impacts right behind him, lifting him from his feet and causing him to flip over onto his back.

"Damn…" Leo grunted, getting back into a crouch, facing the clouds of dust. As each one cleared, he could see each Lanna doing a stretch of sorts. One directly in front of Leo was on her knees. She bent back, looking at Leo from an upside-down perspective.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were used to having so many girls coming at you~" Lanna commented.

"Don't-" Leo didn't get to finish his sentence, already moving to get to his feet as the Lannas began moving together again, getting into a weird sort of formation. Some were crouched low, their arms pulled back. Others stood awkwardly on the shoulders of other Lannas. In fact, now that Leo could see, it looked…

"Super Powered Formation!" One of the Lannas moved, jumping up onto the group. Several other Lannas punched and kicked at her, launching her forward at Leo.

The fired Lanna flipped around, bringing one foot out, "Lanna Gunner Extra!"

Leo shifted, crossing his arms to block. Layers of thick sand began to circulate around him, forming a thick wall of shifting sand just in front of him. The Lanna impacted the shield, getting her foot stuck into it.

"Lanna Gunner Extravaganza!" shouted the Lannas. In the same manner as before, the Lannas were launched at Leo. Each subsequent Lanna kicked through the prevous one, "poofing" it away. As fast as the Lannas were firing, more were being produced behind the formation of Lannas. All the while, Leo continued to hold his sand shield in place, moving one arm around in a slow "looping" motion. More sand was gathering not too far away from him.

Eventually, though, Leo broke the convention. One more Lanna impacted the shield, and Leo moved, with little more than a deadpan, "Right…" accompanying jumping up onto the sand wall. He motioned the arm controlling the shield, and it launched Leo upwards. He did a similar movement with his other arm, controlling the sand he was gathering for his next attack. It followed him, forming a sort of tube as it did so.

The Gunner Formation began to shift, moving its "barrel" up to continue firing at Leo. Leo, however, had other plans. Leo began to spin in mid air, the sand starting to spiral around him.

"Sandstorm: Hyper Tornado!" The sand now rapidly sun around Leo. The Lannas that were coming at him were thrown off-course and were "poofed" away by the force used to throw them away. Leo continued to move, locked in place in the center of the tornado of sand, rapidly closing in on the Lanna formation.

The Lannas couldn't quite "disconnect" in time. Leo's sandstorm impacted, scattering them in all directions throughout the carnival…

* * *

><p>Drew leapt back, standing confidently in a ready stance. Taurus and Corey both rushed at Drew, Corey's hammer raised above his head, glowing once again. As he and Taurus both reached Drew, Corey swung down from above, aiming at Drew again. Taurus swung his ax downwards at Drew's legs.<p>

Drew jumped up slightly, tucking his legs in, clearing the axe strike. At the same time, he lifted both arms to block Corey's strike, the impact simply blowing him towards the ground. Corey tried to capitalize on Drew's seemingly defenseless state by kicking up at him, but Drew merely shifted his weight backward, doing a single backflip.

He had scarcely landed on his feet when Taurus was in his face yet again, punching out at him. Drew easily caught the ox's fist, holding on. He blinked once, his eyes glowing again.

"Tch," Drew said, noting Taurus was still there, "I can't dispel you...Both of your magics really are inconvenient."

Corey's body glowed, his feet glowing as his arms bulked up. He was overlapping both his Speed and Strength buffs together, and he quickly moved to Drew's side, kicking up at Drew. Drew had noticed Corey's approach, however, and quickly adjusted his grip, swinging Taurus into Corey. As he turned, he also avoided the attack

Corey's eyes went wide as Taurus slammed into him, sending him flying backwards. Drew finished turning around, tossing Taurus aside as well. Upon finishing this maneuver, Drew returned to his ready stance, turning around so he could see both of his opponents. He cracked his knuckles ominously, ready to dole out some more punishment if nee-

A whip once again cracked him square on the bridge of his nose, and he lifted his hand as the new welt began to show.

"Lucy Whip Strike!" shouted Lucy, moving her hand, her whip lashing at Drew multiple times. Drew lifted his hand, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as the strikes landed. Eventually, Lucy's attacks ceased. She got some distance, panting from the exertion from both her "spell" and getting away.

Drew slowly lowered his hand, his eye twitching. His face and hand were covered in red welts. Corey had gotten to his feet, and observed the whole thing with a blank look, though he really didn't like Drew's glare now…

"She's just...making him mad…" Corey noted, seeing the lashes had virtually no effect. Then, Drew moved-and to Corey's horror, it was straight to Lucy.

"Eeep…" Lucy said, flinching heavily. Corey quickly moved.

_With his level of strength…!_ Corey thought, his feet glowing as his body blurred. His fist was cocked back, aiming for a punch. He could just see that he'd managed to cut Drew off, but as he swung out, Drew swung his own fist into Corey's punch, parrying the attack and undoing the buff. Corey staggered a bit, moving just past Drew when Drew punched out again, striking Corey directly in the ribs.

Corey gave a sharp grunt of pain as he was lifted from his feet and slammed hard into the stands, sending pieces of wood flying out everywhere. Lucy raised her whip, trying to attack again, but Drew was way ahead of her, lifting her off her feet by her whipping arm. Drew's eyes began to glow blue again.

Taurus charged, protesting as his body began to glow, "No! No, Lucy's…"

He closed the distance, lifting his ax to strike at Drew, but he never got the chance to lower it.

"Boooooooo…" His voice faded as his body was overtaken by the glow. He vanished, his gate forced closed by Drew's magic. Seeing that Corey had been thrown aside and Taurus had been forced back to wherever it was he came from, Drew let out a small sigh.

"There…" he said, turning slowly towards Lucy, "That's better…"

* * *

><p>"Explosion!" shouted Ivan, his sword morphing into the given form as he swiped it into Hound. An explosion erupted from the point of impact, covering Hound's upper body. However, Hound had hardly flinched from the attack, swiping through the smoke and punching Ivan off-balance. Ivan swung up again, blowing Hound up once more, but was once more punched again.<p>

Ivan swung Explosion downward, aiming for one more strike. Hound, meanwhile, swung his arm up, aiming his punch at Ivan's midsection. The two attacks hit, Ivan being lifted from his feet by the strike, but not before he got yet another explosion attack off.

Ivan flipped through the air, landing on his feet, holding onto his sword with two hands. Hound slid back, his body covered in marks and a few cuts, clearly the more hurt of the two. As Hound breathed hard from the attack, Ivan straightened up his posture slightly, impressed.

"I'm surprised someone like you is from Phantom…" Ivan noted, "You're pretty honorable."

Hound snarled, shaking his head to clear whatever stars might have floated into his vision, "Hound will finish job! For Mr. Drew!"

Ivan sighed just a little, but his posture didn't waver any further, his sword starting to glow.

"Right," Ivan said, "Alright Hound…"

He moved his blade through the air, as it reverted back to its first form, Eisenmeteor. He held it in a ready position as he crouched down slightly, the blade pointing out behind him. A grin split his face as he prepared to charge again.

"Let's have a true, wild slugfest!" Ivan shouted, charging Hound. Hound returned his charge, both fighters drawing close…

* * *

><p>Ramsey's cape billowed about behind him as he took several deep breaths, looking to where he'd last seen John...under several cubic feet of solid earth. Eventually, he straightened up, floating slightly as he stared at the cracked slab of overturned earth.<p>

"Good riddance," Ramsey said, grinning, "Me? Defeated by some flimsy shadows? As if…"

He slowly resumed hovering, looking around, his grin fading, "Now, to go find that-"

Ramsey's ears picked up the sound of something. It sounded like shifting rocks, and it was close. He looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Eventually, his eyes flicked downward, looking straight to the rocks John was under.

"No…" he started, his eyes wide, "No, it couldn't be…"

The rocks shifted again, more of that ungodly shifting sound. Then, the rocks cracked violently. Ramsey's eyes went even wider. He floated up further off the ground. Then, to Ramsey's horror, the rocks exploded, and a large, muscular shadow arm reached up from out of the ground.

"No!" shouted Ramsey, lifting his hands above his head, his Magic Circle appeared over his head, "No, no, no!"

"Stay down!" shouted Ramsey, throwing his hands out at the arms, a wave of pressure coming down on the shadow arm, distorting the air as it went down. The arm didn't even seem to be affected by the pulse, moving naturally towards the ground and slamming down, cracking it.

"Two chances," John's voice rang out, "I gave you two chances…"

A moment later, the ground below Ramsey erupted, dragging several things down into the crater where a large, muscular humanoid shadow was slowly beginning to rise. Ramsey's eyes grew wider, the veins showing against the whites. He pushed down again with his spell, but once again, the pulse of force had no visible effect…

* * *

><p>"Lanna Whip Action plus Lanna Attack Ball!" Leo had to admit, Lanna could really work herself in just a certain way...and it was annoying. This time, her Super Formation consisted of turning herself and her clones into a wrecking ball on a chain. The chain swung the ball of Lannas down at Leo. Leo squeezed the fingers of his gauntlet hand together, and the Sand Magic cartridge ejected out, it landing safely in his other hand. As soon as the cartridge made contact with the skin of his hand, Leo teleported out of the way, the ball of Lannas crashing into the ground hard enough to leave a crater and cause a few of them to "poof" away. The Lannas, undaunted, began to spread back out, once more surrounding Leo. Once again, each of the clones took a turn talking.<p>

"What'cha doing…"

"Tough guy?"

"Got something else?"

"For little 'ol us?"

Leo said nothing to any of the Lannas' questions, pocketing the first cartridge and reaching into his pouch once more…

* * *

><p>Ivan rushed in to Hound's range, slicing through the air with his sword. Hound ducked low, dodging the attack. He then backed up, and brought both his hands forward for a dual-punch. However, to Hound's surprise, Ivan was already prepared to defend, blocking each of his strikes. Then, Ivan swung his sword, knocking Hound back with the blunt edge of the blade.<p>

Ivan bent down, gripping his sword tightly, readying himself for another attack…

* * *

><p>Ramsey flitted about in a frenzy, halting only to grasp as much debris as he could before sending it flying towards the massive shadowy blob in the crater, which was slowly coming out of the ground. Each of the attacks was tanked by the blob, not causing even the slightest flinch from it.<p>

"You want to mock my magic?" growled John from within the mass of shadows, the massive foot now slamming hard on the ground, cracking it even further and sending a couple of chunks falling back into the hole he'd just crawled out of.

"There couldn't possibly have been someone like this!" Ramsey protested, unable to process John's strength, "Drew knew what he was talking about...there was the Sword Saint...the Lexicon…"

Realizing John was now completely out of the crater, the colossal, muscular humanoid blob of shadows now straightening up, Ramsey backed away, bringing random chunks of whatever he could grasp with his magic forward.

"You're not getting away from me!" John roared, the shadow's arm extending out towards Ramsey. Ramsey flinched just a little before weaving to the side, his cape flailing about behind him as he did so.

* * *

><p>"It's time this ended," Leo announced, withdrawing a different cartridge from his pouch and jamming it into the slot on his gauntlet. The gauntlet erupted in a Magic Circle, brown in color. As the gauntlet began to change shape once again, Leo slammed his hands down on the ground, a second brown Magic Circle appearing at his feet when he did so.<p>

On cue, wood began to shoot up from the ground into the sky, taking shape into whatever he pleased.

"One Hundred Percent Burst," Leo announced, looking up to the Lannas around him with a piercing stare, "Wood Make Unlimited…"

* * *

><p>Ivan leapt back, landing on a makeshift building for the carnival. He then leapt off that too, landing at last with his feet against a tall tower. Hound snarled, swiping one of his massive, beastly arms, before sprinting forward at Ivan once again…<p>

* * *

><p>Ramsey flew back, several shadow tendrils pursuing him. The shadow tendrils were coming off of the giant shadow's back. Ramsey struggled to dodge these much fiercer attacks, his cape and clothes being shredded slightly as the tendrils managed to land glancing blows on him. Yet, despite the damage, his cape still flowed in an unseen wind like a worn flag.<p>

The shadow took one step forward.

"Dodge this!" John said, his Shadow Titan slamming its hands together. A massive shockwave was released from the impact, and Ramsey was powerless to evade. Knocked completely off-balance, Ramsey was forced to crash-land to the ground hard enough to leave a nice dent in the dirt. As he recovered his senses, he looked up.

The massive titan of darkness towered over him. As beads of sweat ran down his forehead and neck, something finally clicked in Ramsey's head, and his eyes went wide; his pupils shrank. A feeling of fear unlike anything he'd ever felt before coursed through him.

"Now I remember," Ramsey said, "You're him…"

The shadow pulled its arm back. The arm expanded out, doubling in size in the space of a second. Ramsey was frozen in terror.

"The...the Khalkaroth!"

* * *

><p>Ivan kicked off the tower hard, pointing Eisenmeteor forward. As he gained speed, the wind picked up around him. In moments, a glowing trail of light blue cleaved through the air, Ivan at the head.<p>

Hound, completely undaunted, continued to rush Ivan, leaping up at him with his arms back, preparing his own strike…

* * *

><p>At the same time, across the carnival, the three teammates lashed out with their final techniques.<p>

"Titan's Strong Arm!" shouted John, the Shadow Titan slamming its fist down on the defenseless Ramsey, causing the surrounding ground to tremble and crack.

"Reign of the Empire!" cried Leo, raising his arms and throwing them down once more. The wood spikes that had formed in the sky launched downward in a hail of wood. Each and every single Lanna clone was impaled, disappearing in pink smoke. One Lanna, the original remained, held down by her clothes that were run through by wood spikes.

"Iron Comet!" shouted Ivan, slashing Eisenmeteor through the air once more, passing Hound. A streak of blue air came through the trail he took, as well as towards the ground.

* * *

><p>The trail faded, and Ivan landed. Finally taking one hand off his sword, he casually adjusted his glasses, tugging on the "handle" on one end to do so. Hound jerked in mid-air, blood shooting out of the wound Ivan made in his side. His beastly body shrunk down back to its human form, and Hound fell all the way to the ground.<p>

Ivan turned slightly to acknowledge Hound, sheathing his sword. With a neutral expression, Ivan said the only thing that could come to his mind.

"That's a good boy…"

* * *

><p>The Shadow Titan lifted its fist off of Ramsey, revealing a massive fist-shaped imprint in the ground, with an unconscious Ramsey at the center. Despite Ramsey clearly being out cold, his cape still, still continued to float about as if guided by the wind.<p>

All of a sudden, the titan's body began to contract, shrinking to the ground. As it shrunk in size, John could be seen seemingly coming out of the thing's chest.

"Consider yourself lucky," he said. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he shoved his hands in his pockets. He then turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"If it was someone else, they wouldn't have pulled that last punch…"

* * *

><p>Leo approached the pinned Lanna. Lanna's eyes were on him the entire time. Eventually, Leo stood directly over Lanna.<p>

"Oooooo~~~" said Lanna, "You really beat me, you bad boy~"

Leo's expression changed, though not by much. His brows had lifted slightly, and a look of disappointment crossed through his face. Even his tone was off.

"Didn't have to go this way…" sad Leo, shaking his head. As Lanna continued to look up at Leo, something occurred to her.

"Wait...that face!" Lanna's memory triggered, sending her back not more than two weeks ago…

* * *

><p><em>Despite the nature of her guild, Lanna kept an almost stereotypically girly room to herself. She had been sitting on her bed, flipping through her copy of Sorcerer's Weekly, when she'd saw it. <em>

"_Oooo~" she said, looking to the figure on the page, featured prominently in several shots._

_Leo was in each of these pictures, looking just as saddened to see the camera as he did after defeating her. Lanna didn't know what it was about the All Fist, but he certainly had a way with the camera...certainly the shy type! Kept avoiding the camera..._

* * *

><p>"You're…! You're…!" Lanna said, flailing about despite being pinned, what could have been a mild blush just beginning to form on her cheeks, "The third most desired man in Fiore!"<p>

Leo's expression changed again, but only for a moment. Immediately afterward, he turned slightly away from Lanna, palming his face with his organic hand, an annoyed sigh escaping his lips…

* * *

><p>Ivan looked over to Hound. There was really only one thing to left to do, but all the same, he had to wonder.<p>

"Well…" Ivan said, walking over to Hound's unconscious body, a conservative estimate already brewing in his mind.

* * *

><p>As he continued to walk away from Ramsey, John cracked his neck with the aid of one of his hands. All the same, a thought began to form in his mind.<p>

"Hmm…"

* * *

><p>Deciding to give Sorcerer's Weekly a piece of his mind later, Leo squeezed his fingers together, ejecting his cartridge. After stuffing it back into its pouch, he brought his gauntlet hand to his chin, a wild guess on his mind.<p>

* * *

><p>At the same time, from their respective positions, Ivan, John, and Leo all stated exactly what they thought of themselves and the others in their team…<p>

"Yeah, I'm sure I finished _my_ fight first…"

_**Unfortunately, due to the fact it took me forever to get back to this, the guy who does the AFter Chapter Specials is unable to act currently. Please call back later. Or something…**_

_**yeah, sorry for the sporadic updates. I'll just go ahead and finish this arc now...**_


	18. Future Family Feud

**Chapter 18: Future Family Feud**

* * *

><p>The central tent was a far quieter place than it was a minute ago. Drew continued to look at Lucy as though he'd just realized she was there, still lifting her up by one arm. From his left, there was a loud noise, like several broken chairs being tossed aside. Corey stood up, having been punted there by Drew earlier.<p>

This didn't escape Drew's notice. His eyes darted back and forth between the still-recovering Corey and the struggling Lucy. Eventually, Drew came to an educated conclusion.

"Corey!" Drew called out. Only now was the ice at least partly gone from his eyes, "Your lady's got…"

Now he turned to face Corey directly, a hand going to his chin. The ice had been replaced with an almost quizzical look, complete with his free hand going to his chin. It would have been more like the Drew Corey remembered, except for the part where he was holding a scantily-clad female up by her wrist.

"Quite the personality…" Drew finished. Lucy froze, her eyes going wide as she glanced over to Corey. It was only for the moment, but all the same, her cheeks began to grow pinkish.

Corey felt as though he'd been hit over the head-and not because it had happened at some point during the fight. His own eyes went wide, and the rest of his face was blank, as though he didn't understand the statement completely. His cheeks, however, told a different story, "W...what?"

"I guess I can sorta see why you joined Fairy Tail now, then…" Drew's gaze returned to Lucy, studying her intently, almost as if he were studying a spread in Sorcerer's Weekly.

Lucy came back into reality as she realized what was going on, and with her free hand, she threw out a slap. Drew's hand came off his chin as casually as if he were swatting a mosquito out of the air, blocking Lucy's attack. His gaze had lowered to Lucy's legs, and he let off a small "hmmm…" in response.

Suddenly, from Drew's pocket, a beeping noise was heard. It reminded Corey of a cell phone's ringtone. Drew turned his gaze away from Lucy, realizing what was going on.

"Oh, they're checking in," he said, moving his free hand to his pocket and pulling out a small lacrima. The magical object flared exactly once, before projecting an image. And from the wide-eyed glare Drew shot at the figure, that was not at all who he was expecting to see.

A holographic, neutral-faced Ivan appeared a few feet, waving his hand at Drew, "Yo."

The lacrima began to project another image, the hologram of Ivan moving to one side. An image of Leo appeared, and he had a very important question to ask.

"...can you hear me now?" asked Leo.

"Oh, Leo. You're done too." Ivan said flatly, as both Ivan and Leo began to move aside. Instead of John appearing, an image of Ramsey's bloody, unconscious face appeared, Ramsey letting out little more than a gurgle.

"Can't help but feel I forgot something," mused John, still walking away from Ramsey with his hands in his pockets…

"I guess…" Ivan squinted at Ramsey, "That's John? Perfect!"

Ivan's image vanished, only to reappear a moment later with the bag containing the bird. He grinned just a little, looking at Drew, who became more and more enraged as Ivan continued on.

"Now," Ivan started, "How do you wanna do this?"

The images the lacrima was projecting suddenly cracked, Ivan's voice becoming distorted. Drew was slowly starting to squeeze the lacrima.

"Try to take us all on, or just walk away with your fri-" Ivan's voice completely cut out as Drew's hand closed around his communications lacrima, breaking it into pieces.

"Bastards!" Drew shouted, his arm moving. Unfortunately, it happened to be the arm that was holding Lucy, and thus, the poor girl was sent flying through the air. Lucy let out a scream, but before she could hit the ground, she hit something else.

She looked up, seeing Corey now right there, probably having done that thing where he sped himself up. He had stopped her trajectory, and now had her in a sort of cradle. Thankfully, before things could get awkward, he turned, placing her on the ground gently. This done, Corey turned back to face Drew, taking a few steps forward. Drew glared at Corey, the ice back in his eyes.

"So," Corey said, "You doubted us. Yet, here we are, the score now three-nothing…"

Drew's teeth grit, and his fists clenched harder.

"Our favor, Drew…"

At Corey's last words, Drew slammed his fist into the ground, cratering it and sending out a shockwave. Corey's eyes went wide, and barely had time to brace himself. His feet scraped along the ground, leaving small trenches in its wake.

"Oh, don't you patronize me!" shouted Drew, his eyes wide with anger, "I very well could take him up on his first offer!"

Corey finally stopped sliding back, crouching as his momentum finally stopped. He looked over to Drew, who was slowly standing, unclenching his fist. The anger in his tone and face was mostly gone by the time he straightened up.

"But since your friends manage to do so well," he continued, putting one hand in his pocket, turning to the two Fairy Tail members, "I'll let you off the hook…"

He withdrew the key Lucy had been coveting earlier, and tossed it forward on the ground. Lucy, however, found her focus wasn't on that, but on the situation between Corey and Drew. She couldn't see Corey's expression, but she could see Drew was smirking.

"I don't have any use for it," Drew said, "And I'll give her that for the outfit…"

Finally, Drew turned around, starting to walk away. Corey stood up, and reached his hand out.

"Drew-" Corey started, trying to signal him to wait.

"This won't happen again, _Lexicon_!" Drew said, turning his head back to face Corey, paying no mind to Corey's posture, "If you fairies get in the way of Phantom Lord again, I'll crush you…"

Drew's eyes widened again, veins visible against the whites, "Without restraint!"

Finally, Drew began to walk. As he continued to walk away, Corey slowly lowered his hand, his head angling down to the ground. Lucy's eyes were still wide, gawking at where Drew had stood. She had understood very well now, what Corey just had to put himself through.

The green bubble of Corey's Zone finally receded back into his body, his body briefly glowing as its effects ended. Corey's hand slowly opened, but before his hammer could hit the ground, it turned into a wireframe, and faded away into the unknown.

"Damn it all…" Corey grumbled, just loud enough for Lucy to pick up on. Slowly, he began to walk over to the thing Drew had just dropped for her to pick up. Lucy remained frozen.

_No matter how hard I tried...I couldn't even touch him…_ Corey thought, an emptiness unlike anything he'd really felt before filling him, _But that's not the problem...Drew's changed. And he's changed for the worse…_

Corey slowly picked up the key, sighing, _And with what's to come…_

"You okay?" Corey blinked a bit. Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, he turned back to Lucy, who by now was on her feet. And there was only one girl in the tent with him…

"Yeah," Corey said, though he really didn't feel the part, "Just...just taking it all in…"

Corey walked back towards Lucy before holding the key out in front of him, offering it for her to take.

"Here," Corey said again, his mind still on what Drew had just said and what he'd become, "You...wanted this, right?"

Lucy looked at him with sad eyes, clearly frowning, "Yeah...right…"

She took the key in her hand, and as soon as the key had changed hands, Corey turned away, his head hung.

Lucy looked down as well towards the key. She couldn't imagine what Corey was feeling, nor could she think of what to say to try to pull him out of whatever he was in…

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"So…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>Drew had already picked up Ramsey, his cape still slightly billowing even as Drew dragged him behind him. Lanna was draped over one shoulder, looking to Drew expectantly.<p>

"Come on," pouted Lanna, "You can let me down, hun~"

"Shut it," Drew coldly retorted, "Not in the mood."

Lanna remained silent for a while, still pouting over Drew's shoulder. Eventually, though, inspiration struck her, "When we get back, do you want me to-"

Drew's cheeks went slightly pink, and he barked out a simple order, "Quiet, woman!"

Lanna giggled in response, and the three continued to walk towards where Hound was. He was still lying out on the ground, clearly unconscious. Drew stopped next to him, finally letting Lanna down. As Drew moved to pick up Hound, he heard something.

"So…" Drew looked up, seeing the Sword Saint leaning against the tower not too far from him. Right next to him was the bag the Bellus Bird was in. Drew grit his teeth.

"Going to gloat, Sword Saint?" asked Drew.

Ivan tugged his glasses into place once more, a glare gliding across the lenses, "No, I was just wondering…"

Ivan turned to face Drew directly, his eyes piercing through the glare on his lenses, his own glare sharp as he looked upon the Phantom Lord mages.

"Why you were so willing to pick a fight with another guild," Ivan said, "Or should I say, why Phantom Lord was…"

Drew grinned, finally hefting Hound over one shoulder. Ramsey gurgled a bit, but didn't do much else.

"Oh boy," said Drew, gesturing with his free hand, "You have so much to look forward to…" Turning to Lanna, he said, "Let's get out of here…"

Drew and his team began to walk away. Ivan watched as they casually walked right out of the circus as though nothing happened. Only when Drew and company had well and truly left his sight did Ivan finally release a sigh, shifting away from the wall, a frown on his face.

"I know…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before Team Souzou had regrouped in the central tent once again. The stands were still mostly broken from where Corey had been thrown into them, and there were some fissures here and there from the fight. It was now the next day; well into the afternoon by the time Team Souzou had managed to put things back together.<p>

Ivan threw the blanket back over the bird's cage, sighing. Just then, something in red began to twirl in from behind him, and he turned around just in time to witness a bandaged Carny stop moving about. He ended in a pose.

"Some damages here and there," Carny said, "But the show can still go on tonight!"

"And we don't have to pay," Ivan suggested, lifting up one finger, "Right?"

Carny turned away from Ivan, arms crossed, "I never said that…"

This upset Ivan to the point tears began to fall from his eyes. He turned away, ready to accept that 300,000 Jewels was not coming the group's way, maybe not even 100,000, and had formulated a mental note to chew out his teammates later for letting so much get wrecked, when he stopped short.

There, on the stands, not too far from the trench in them, was Corey. He was sitting in an unbroken chair not more than ten feet from that. Given that this was Corey, the Lexicon, the guy who was the first to scream in anger before a problem even started to show up; hell, even when it wasn't a problem at all, it wasn't like him to be so down.

Ivan frowned. Corey really looked down. And he couldn't have that. Even if it meant that he'd save a few Jewel on the next mission. But before Ivan could even get a quarter of the way there, Ivan stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide.

He didn't know how he didn't see her walking in before, but there she was: Lucy, at Corey's side. He didn't even notice her, still wrapped up in what happened with Drew, no doubt. Well, maybe saying he didn't notice her wasn't quite looked up, and finally saw her, as though coming out of a trance.

"Oh…" Corey said, lifting one hand weakly, waving, "Hey…"

"Hi…" said Lucy, looking down to him, "So, they're starting up the carnival again...though most of it's trashed…"

Ivan only watched as Lucy brought her hand to her cheek and looked away from Corey.

"I was wondering if you…" she seemed really hesitant to say it, for some reason, "Wanted to go…"

Corey's face contorted, his eyes going wide as he apparently realized what was going on. At first, though, he seemed unsure, "I don't…"

However, at that moment, a memory seized him, taking him back a day, to when the group first arrived at Canis Carnival…

* * *

><p>"<em>I know this!" Lucy said, reading the sign, "I always wanted to come here as a little girl...though...Dad never let me…"<em>

_Corey, hearing this, looked over to her for a second, one brow raised, the other lowered, but before he could say anything about it…_

* * *

><p>"Yeah," Corey said, lightly nodding at first, "Yeah, let's do it…"<p>

Lucy smiled, hopping slightly, "Great!"

Corey stood up, and Ivan blinked as he realized Corey was actually smiling. Which, even now, was quite a feat. At least, before his face contorted in mild shock when Lucy reached out, grabbing his wrist with both of her hands.

"C'mon!" She said, starting to pull him along, Corey staggering after her as he struggled to keep up, "We gotta beat the crowd!"

Ivan turned his head, watching them leave. The two moved right past John and Leo, who both seemed particularly surprised when they saw it. John's eyes quickly half-closed as he turned after Corey, lifting one finger and opening his mouth to say something. However, Leo quickly shoved his gauntlet palm straight into John's face, cutting him off.

At last, Ivan smiled. Part of him wondered if Corey realized what was going on, but admittedly, it wasn't of his concerns. At least Lucy got to see the carnival like she wanted, and Corey wasn't moping now. With that in mind, Ivan resumed his work…

* * *

><p>One of the first things they went to was a rollercoaster. It wasn't any different from home. Of course, it'd been the first time in a long time he'd found himself on one of those. Lucy was clearly having fun. But for some reason, Corey found himself experiencing motion sickness...<p>

* * *

><p>The very next place they went to was a "hit the bulls-eye" sort of stand. The player (in this case, Corey) had to try to hit the center of the target with one of the darts. A quick look at the dartboard would reveal Corey had tried this game multiple times in succession. Of all the darts he'd thrown, at least ten of them had missed the board entirely. The rest were scattered over the dartboard, in no way close to the bulls-eye.<p>

Corey leaned over the edge of the counter, his face hidden behind his bangs. Lucy giggled at the whole sight...until Corey pulled his hammer out of seemingly nowhere again, and reared back, ready to throw it…

Lucy started backing away at this point, afraid of what he was about to do.

* * *

><p>One trip to the cotton candy stand later, Corey and Lucy were walking by the place that Leo had fought Lanna earlier-evidenced by the many wooden spikes planted in the ground. Each of them had a different color. Both could only smile to each other, paying no attention to the inky black spot on the ground tracking them.<p>

After Corey removed the spikes from one of the tables nearby, he and Lucy sat across from each other. They looked at each other, Lucy motioning to Corey's nose. Corey scratched at the spot she'd indicated, revealing a small wad of cotton candy that had somehow gotten there. She giggled as he blushed slightly. Then, he shot a death glare at her.

No, not at her, as Lucy learned. Corey politely requested that she stand up "for a bit". As soon as she was clear, Corey reared up, flipping the table. Lucy followed the table, and gasped when she saw John jumping out of the shadows to avoid being hit by the table.

"What the hell are you doing, John!?" Corey shouted, his face beet red, chasing John down. Surprisingly, instead of returning his charge as usual, John turned away, running, "Get back here!"

Lucy gave chase as well, but quickly lost him in the carnival.

Not too far away, Leo sighed. He stopped leaning against a tent, having saw the whole altercation unfold.

"Real smooth, John," said Leo. Just then, a finger prodded at his shoulder, and he turned.

His gauntlet hand shot to his face in alarm when he saw a throng of fangirls behind him.

_His_ fangirls…

* * *

><p>Ivan stared at a piece of paper he held tightly in both of his hands. His glasses had gone askew from the shock of it all. He could just make out the number on the bill through his blurred vision. And not because his glasses weren't focused on the number. Tears cascaded down his face from the sheer stress of it all, and through his unfocused-ness, he had to wonder…<p>

"How'd this happen!?"

Just then, an idea occurred to Ivan. He gripped a pen he had on him, and began scribbling...

* * *

><p>"Where'd you go?" asked Lucy, looking around. Corey still hadn't come back to her just yet. Just then, she heard something behind her, and so she turned.<p>

"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Corey through clenched teeth and an annoyed expression, a piece of John's jacket held between his jaws, "Just had a little pest control to take care of…"

* * *

><p>Ivan pulled his glasses back up onto his face with one hand, the other hand holding up the bill. On the place where they were to sign the document, the words "Phantom Lord" were scrawled. A smug grin plastered itself onto Ivan's face, a glare gliding across the lenses.<p>

* * *

><p>The sun had gone down completely by the time the show was ready to resume. Every carnival-goer had piled into the massive tent at the center once again. This included Team Souzou, who were now back in their box, each looking far different from when they had been there the day before. Corey was leaning back in his seat, highly content, a cheesy smile across the lower half of his face. Ivan was sitting up straight, beaming proudly. John's arms were folded, shooting Corey a death glare. He'd taken more damage from Corey's rampage than he had from Ramsey. Then, there was an annoyed-looking Leo, a lipstick mark on his cheek.<p>

"Now," said Carny, sounding not injured at all despite the bandages on his body, "To pick up where we left off last night…"

He stepped to one side, "The lovely, Lucy!"

Lucy came out onto the stage, once again dancing around. The crowd began to cheer her on, the novelty of the outfit she was wearing having long worn off.

"Wow," Leo observed, "Crowd's into it…"

"And so is he," John said, nodding over to Corey. When Leo went to look, he found Corey's expression to be completely off-putting. His eyes were half-closed, and he was smiling like he'd just found a treasure chest full of gold.

"And of course," Carny said after a few minutes of her performance, "The main course you all missed out on!"

He twirled around, eventually ending in a pose where he pointed straight up to the sky. At that moment, a glowing light soared down from the darkened ceiling of the tent. Moments later, a beautiful, massive, colorful bird appeared behind Lucy, spreading its wings behind her. Lucy's arms went up. The crowd went wild at the sight.

"Well, there it is," said Ivan, taking in the sight.

"The Bellus Bird," Corey continued, coming out of the trance he'd seemed to be in, "That's what it looks like…" He leaned forward again, his eyes half-closing, _Perfect complement, too…_

_Beautiful…_ thought Leo, watching the action on the stage and looking around to see the crowds' reactions. By now, Lucy and the bird were both dancing in sync, eliciting more howls of excitement.

_It's like they were always a part of this show… _John thought, smiling. Ivan stood up at this point, and his teammates moved to join him.

Finally, Lucy and the bird finished, spreading their arms (or wings) one last time. Lucy was breathing heavily, but clearly happy to be here, a massive open mouth smile on her face.

"This is it," said Ivan, looking down to her along with his teammates, "This is the happiness we fought to protect..."

Each member of Team Souzou smiled. Lucy's eyes closed, but her smile didn't fade.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>~*~"And then…"~*~<strong>_

* * *

><p>"It was amazing!" Lucy said. The group had made it back to the guild hall to report the success of their mission, and Lucy had taken it upon herself to tell her story to Mirajane, "Everyone was cheering! It felt great!"<p>

Mirajane smiled at her, "So your first job went well?"

"It was amazing!" Lucy smiled, repeating herself. Then, her smile faded, recalling what had happened immediately before then, "Though...those people we had to face…"

"Oh, don't mind them," Mirajane slightly waved her hand, "Phantom Lord's always considered themselves Fairy Tail's rival, but they're still a legal guild. They probably wouldn't have seriously harmed anyone…"

"I'm not so sure," said Lucy, Drew's parting words echoing in her head.

"Gotcha!" shouted John, putting Corey into yet another headlock and drilling his fist into his scalp. Corey struggled against John's grasp. All around them, their fellow guild members were sitting around, lifting glasses, cheering both of their names.

"No…" Corey grunted, "_**No!**_ Match number two hundred-forty will be _mine_!"

Corey's head came up, the back of it slamming into John's face. Blood sprayed up from John's nose, John falling backwards. Corey leapt onto John, and the two became a dust cloud of punches and kicks once more.

Lucy started to laugh, finding their fighting wasn't as...severe, as she would have found it before.

_Here at Fairy Tail, even something so serious doesn't seem to matter!_

Corey had gotten a leg up in the dust cloud, and was now holding John down, his hammer at the ready.

_As long as we're all together…_

Lucy's thought train was drowned out by two words from Corey:

"_**Now die!**_"

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the guild hall, Ivan was leaning on the bar next to Makarov, who was sitting on it, paying no mind to the fact Corey had just screamed a death threat at John. Makarov finished sipping his drink.<p>

"So, that's what he said, eh?" asked Makarov, taking what Ivan had told him about the last words he'd heard from Drew.

"Yeah," Ivan said, trying to sound casual.

"Well, nothing to worry about, I'm sure," Makarov waved his hand dismissively, staring at his drink. Ivan frowned at this, knowing far more about what was to come from Phantom Lord than anyone.

"Master…" said Ivan, "I think-"

Corey howled in pain, a shadow tendril launching him off of John and through the air.

"Hush now," said Makarov, "It's not a concern…" He took another sip of his beer, disinterested in what Ivan was trying to say.

"Right…" Ivan said, biting his lip…

* * *

><p>"Just one more day…"<p>

"That's right, won't everyone be glad to see us?"

"Aye, ma'am!"

In a forest not too far removed from Magnolia Town, two figures were moving. One of them was Happy, casually floating out of the shadows of the trees. Not too far him, carrying a giant, decorated horn, was Erza, casually making her way out of the trees…

_***~*Fairy Tail's Strongest Team (?!): Team Scarlet*~***_

* * *

><p><em><strong>What's this about? Find out...whenever I next update!<strong>_


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